


Who Gives This Man That He May Be

by Stone_Princess



Category: Suits (TV), Torchwood
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate History, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Humor, Chance Meetings, Crack, Crossover, Europe, First Time, M/M, Retcon, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-28
Updated: 2011-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-28 09:47:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stone_Princess/pseuds/Stone_Princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack finds a young Harvey in trouble and asks his old friend Jessica to help out.  Over the years the relationship makes them both become more who they are, even if they don't know it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Gives This Man That He May Be

**Author's Note:**

> Because this is my own magically created universe, 2011 coincides with approximately halfway through Torchwood Season 2. Everyone is alive and, you know, happy. Also I think Jack captures Trevor and freezes him in the Torchwood vaults. I'm not saying for sure, I mean, no one really knows, but he doesn't appear to be around to cause havoc for Mike or anyone else.
> 
> Thanks to the ever amazing Velvetglove for the comprehensive beta and listening to me natter on about shows she isn’t fannish about (except maybe I swayed her on Jack) and to Supergrover24 for extensive hand holding and coddling and helping and making both me and the story better. Without her I am nothing. When I say “Jack and HARVEY!!” she says, “Go do it!” and I do. Here’s the result.
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a not-for-profit, non-commercial transformative work, created by a fan and intended only for amusement purposes. I owe the creators of Suits and Torchwood a huge debt for giving me something wonderful to work with. I do not own or have any rights to the characters here within. Please do not archive without my permission.

* * *

  
**Spring 1995**

Captain Jack Harkness knew opportunity when it knocked, and right now it was about to knock a very handsome kid out.

"Hey," Jack shouted, striding forward purposefully and moving his long coat back so the badge and gun on his belt were visible. A badge that was pretty much meaningless in this country. Meaningless even in his own country, except in the right circles. But it didn't matter; most people saw a badge and that in itself was enough, as it was for these two thugs, who dropped the boy and took off down the alley.

"You alright, kid?" Jack leaned down to help him up.

"You don't look like the police," he said, eyes taking in every inch of Jack. "You look like an old Navy captain or something."

Jack laughed and stuck out his hand once he'd gotten the kid to his feet. "Captain Jack Harkness."

"You're a sea captain?"

"No, I'm something else. Let's get you home." Now that they were at eye level, Jack could see that he wasn't a kid at all. "What's your name?"

"Harvey. Harvey Specter." Very handsome, not a kid at all, with a name like a superhero or a master criminal. Jack hoped it was the former.

"Hello, Harvey Harvey Specter. What was going on back there?"

"Playing poker."

"Really? Because I was just playing poker and that looked less like poker and more like you were getting the shit beat out of you."

Though it seemed Harvey could walk on his own, Jack kept supporting him as they moved toward the street. Harvey didn't resist or insist he could do it on his own, and Jack didn't really want to let go.

"Which way?" Jack asked when they emerged from the alley.

Harvey hesitated, looking both ways, as if to make sure they were alone. "Uh," he said finally, "I probably shouldn't go back to my place." He was a quiet for a second, as if Jack might say something. Jack didn't. "It's just a room I rent and those guys, or their buddies, are probably there waiting."

Jack sighed. Just because opportunity knocked didn't mean you should always answer, no matter how good looking that opportunity was. Jessica was going to be pissed when she found out he'd managed to get involved in someone else's troubles.

Jack's habit of picking up strays and putting them to work at Torchwood or dragging them down with him was starting to look less habit-like and more like a creepy obsession, if you were on the outside looking in. In the end, they all aged or died tragically in the line of duty when Jack didn't and he was forced to continuously find new companions. At least until the one he'd been waiting on for so long finally returned. But that Doctor could literally be a million years away and Jack had no way of knowing if he was even coming back. In the meantime there was Harvey Specter right in front of him, who instantly struck Jack as more than a pretty face. After a hundred and fifty or so years, you got pretty good at reading people.

"Okay, we'll go back to my place so you can clean up. Don't make me regret this, Harvey Specter."

Harvey's smile was rather disconcertingly full of blood and yet the twist of it almost made Jack's knees buckle. Yes, this was a bad decision and one Jack was surely past being able to go back on now. He never could resist a handsome face like that, and so he led a beat-up young man back to his rooms, the warm spring air breathing expectation onto both their backs.

***

Jack shut the file he was looking at as Harvey emerged from the bathroom, all freshly scrubbed and covered in red marks that would surely be bruises by morning. Jack’s vantage point from the corner chair gave him an excellent view of Harvey in the doorway. Besides the damage from the beating, he was otherwise young and fit in a way that took Jack's breath away. Jessica had been very clear that Jack not get into any trouble while he was in New York. But it was in Jack's nature to help. And this Harvey Specter clearly needed help. Jack's help. And if not help, there was surely something Jack could give him. This world still wasn't ready for Jack's 51st century notions of sexual openness, but that had never stopped Jack from the flirting that usually got him what he wanted.

"What are you listening to?" Harvey asked, leaning on the bathroom doorframe and surveying the room.

" _Ain't That Lovin' You Baby_. Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall."

"I like it."

"Of course you do. If you didn't there'd be something wrong with you."

Jack had not brought Harvey back to his rooms with innocent intentions, but if he had, Harvey walking around, damp, in just a towel would have dashed those good intentions and shattered them into a thousand pieces on the floor.

"This is your place?"

"No." Jack remained in the overstuffed chair but could not take his eyes off Harvey as he moved around the room, looking through doorways and out windows. "This is the place my law firm puts me up in when I am in the States." He watched Harvey's eyes as he processed this info.

"Are you a lawyer?" Harvey asked, his attention expectantly focused on the answer.

"No, I'm a client."

"And you don't live in America."

"No," Jack answered, though it didn't seem to have been a question.

"But you use a law firm here enough that they give you a place to stay?" Harvey’s intensity on the subject of lawyers was intriguing, but not as intriguing as what Jack hoped to find under that towel.

"My work is very complicated. I get help from many unexpected places. Including lawyers."

Harvey nodded and moved around the room, picking things up and putting them back down, surely trying to make sure Jack got a view from every angle of him and that goddamn towel.

"What do you do, Harvey? Besides get beat up and come home with strange men."

Harvey stilled and Jack assumed he was either offended or formulating whatever lie he was sure to tell. He turned around slowly, his hand on the edge of the towel, to either secure it or release it, Jack was anxious to see which.

"Well," Harvey started slowly, "I rarely go home with strange men. And I play poker. Professionally. Or I'm working up to it, anyway." He ducked his eyes.

Jack let his eyes wander over Harvey's torso. "I certainly hope that you," Jack paused, making it clear with his gaze that he was only interested in one thing at this juncture, "learn poker well enough to stop getting your ass kicked."

"Yeah," Harvey mumbled to the floor before turning to look out the window.

Jack knew something else was going on. Harvey had the countenance of a man forced into a place he never wanted to be, living a life he wasn't intended for, making choices he shouldn't have to make. Jack hoped he wasn't one of those choices.

"Come here," Jack said.

Harvey looked up and met Jack's eyes with a solid confidence that had been missing just a second ago.

"I want to kiss you," Jack said. "But I don't want anything from you that you don't want to give me. You're free to leave if you prefer. You don't owe me anything."

Harvey let his eyes sweep over Jack and his tongue darted out, running over his lower lip. Jack stared, so transfixed by that shiny, wet lip that it was almost tough to shift focus when Harvey dropped his towel and advanced to the armchair where Jack sat.

"Has anyone ever told you, Captain Jack Harkness, that you are a very, very good looking man?"

Jack smiled as Harvey leaned down.

"And you're wearing entirely too much clothing," Harvey said as he sealed his mouth to Jack's and started pushing Jack's suspenders down and unbuttoning his shirt.

“That,” Jack answered, “people tell me all the time.” Harvey laughed and kissed Jack again.

Jack let himself be stripped to the waist before he reached for Harvey and pulled him into his lap, awkwardly trying not to break the kiss. Harvey’s arms twisted around Jack, one hand reaching up into his hair. Jack groaned and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue across Harvey's, tasting the last faint trace of bourbon and cigars--poker table flavors--and the faintest copper of Harvey's own blood.

Harvey pulled back and looked Jack in the eyes, almost too close for Jack to focus.

"Thanks for helping me out back there," Harvey said.

"Sure." Jack couldn't help smiling.

"Good thing you were there to be the hero."

"Oh?"

"Because otherwise how would you ever have gotten me up here and naked?" Harvey's face split into a brilliant smile. "Of course, how could you resist once you saw me?"

"I'm fairly certain you just threw yourself at me, Harvey Specter. And how could you not? I mean look at me, your hero. Now shut up and kiss me again."

Jack always remembered his deaths: painful or not, they were unforgettable. But every love he'd had was even more memorable and he loved Harvey already, if just for his mouth.

It was a struggle to get to the bed, limbs tangled, mouths reaching for each other every time they broke apart, hands trying to cover as much skin as possible. But they made it eventually, Harvey triumphantly straddling Jack's hips as he undid his trousers.

"The belt is really a little much with the suspenders," he laughed, "don't you think?"

"But where would I keep my gun?" Jack laughed and pulled Harvey to him, holding tight, just for a second, to feel Harvey's heart beat against his.

Removal of Jack's trousers was such an epic effort that most the blankets ended up on the floor and the sheets were already wound around them when Harvey reached for Jack's cock and whispered, "I want to make you come," in Jack's ear.

"Maybe if you do a good job, I'll return the favor," Jack teased and Harvey laughed brightly, but Jack's attention to that sound was cut short by all the blood in his body rushing to meet Harvey's hand.

Harvey half rolled on to his side, staying pressed close against Jack, his cock pressing into Jack's hip, his breath hot on Jack's neck, and his hand, oh his hand, was twisting, stroking and teasing Jack's very hard cock in the most delicious way.

Jack rocked his hips up, trying to get more contact, but Harvey pulled back, only letting Jack have as much as he wanted to give. Jack turned his head and reached for Harvey's mouth again, catching Harvey's lower lip in his teeth lightly and reaching his arm around Harvey's torso to pull him in tighter. Harvey broke the kiss and thrusted a little, rocking against Jack's hip.

"Do you want to come in my hand, Jack?"

"Oh, I want so many things from you."

"Or in my mouth?"

Jack groaned in response as Harvey moved to kneel between Jack's spread thighs, his hands still working Jack's dick, stroking not quite hard enough, just teasing, while Harvey watched his face.

"Goddamn, you're a sexy man." Harvey's voice was strained slightly, scratched with his own arousal. His cock stood sharply up as he surveyed Jack sprawled on the bed beneath him.

"I think," Jack gasped out as Harvey finally gripped his cock harder, "your mouth. It's a very pretty mouth and I want it on my cock."

Harvey laughed and leaned down, pressing his mouth on Jack's stomach, across his abs, licking a little, teasing more. Jack bucked his hips a little and Harvey's hand came down like iron, pinning Jack to the bed by his hip as he slid his mouth over the head of Jack's cock.

Jack craned his neck up to watch Harvey suck his dick. Harvey's work was very, very good. Warm and wet was a given, but he was clearly not just blowing Jack, but paying attention to what made Jack twitch and cry out and was trying to hit those places again, a little harder each time, with a little more pressure, until Jack was writhing and nearly whimpering under Harvey's ministrations.

Finally, Harvey grasped the base of Jack's cock tightly and jerked it, wet with his own saliva, while pressing his flattened tongue up and down the length of Jack's cock as he bobbed over it. Pleasure rushed up Jack's spine, spinning his thoughts away from anything.

"I'm gonna come, oh god, in your beautiful mouth, Harvey, fuck, oh god." Harvey released Jack's hip and petted his stomach as he fucked up into Harvey's hand and mouth, coming in waves, spirals of pleasure, a complete release from everything.

Harvey licked him clean and sat up, salaciously wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and watching Jack.

"Come kiss me with that pretty mouth," Jack said and Harvey laid over him, pushing his cock against the wetness on the dip in Jack's hipbone, grinding against him and rocking his hips as he pushed his tongue into Jack's mouth.

Jack's cock twitched with slight interest at the taste of himself in Harvey's mouth but it was still too soon. And it was Harvey's turn now.

"You did do a good job," Jack said against Harvey's jaw, nibbling his way down, across Harvey's earlobes and the tendons in his neck. "A very good job, so I will return the favor."

Jack ran his hands down Harvey's back, feeling him shudder, and push harder against Jack's body. They were both overheating with exertion and lust. Jack's hands reached down, cupping under the cheeks of Harvey's ass, using it as leverage to pull Harvey tight against him.

"Oh fuck, Jack, I want you so much."

"What I want," Jack answered, using his grip to set the speed of how much Harvey could rub against him, "is to make you cry out my name as you come all over yourself."

Harvey made a guttural sound of pure need.

Jack reached up and pressed his fingers to Harvey's lips. "Make them, wet, very wet. Your enjoyment of this depends on how good a job you do."

Obediently but with obvious enjoyment, Harvey licked and sucked at Jack's fingers as he had on Jack's cock. Jack brought his hand back down and used it to spread Harvey's ass, pressed his fingers against Harvey's opening, slowly pushing one in while Harvey fucked back, pushing his ass up to meeting Jack's hand and then pressing his cock back down to rub on Jack's hipbone. They worked a slow pace between them, Harvey's breathing speeding up as he murmured and mumbled against Jack's neck, begging, asking for more until Jack couldn't not give it and worked to slowly slip another finger in.

"Are you going come from my fingers, Harvey? Come for me while you think about what it'll be like when I fuck you? Come for me, Harvey, come on."

Jack slowed as Harvey bucked against him, fucking himself on Jack's fingers, while Jack reached between them with his other hand to squeeze Harvey's cock. It didn't take long after that until Harvey was coming over both of them and crying Jack's name like it would save him.

Much later, both sticky and sated, Harvey lay, breathing deeply, on Jack's chest and Jack stroked his hair and wondered what he could do to save Harvey from himself. Jack needed a win right now. A life he'd changed for the better, not another disappointment, another death.

"That was so worth getting beat up for," Harvey mumbled, startling Jack a little by not actually being asleep like Jack had thought.

"I hope that isn't something you make a habit of. Your face is too pretty to get smashed regularly."

Harvey tipped his back, looking up and Jack, running his fingers up Jack's arm as Jack continued to stroke his hair. Harvey couldn't be more than twenty-three or twenty-four, Jack thought, and by Jack's measure of time that was so very young, barely a blip in the grander scheme. Too soon to have heavy problems, too soon to have that much trouble in his eyes.

"No, this isn't where I intended to be." He was quiet for a minute, maybe deciding on whether to make a post-coital confession or not. Harvey inhaled deeply and Jack assumed his decision was made. "I was going to Harvard Law, but, oh, fuck, what does it matter what broke, who died? Shit happens, Jack. I had to find another way and I thought I was good enough to make it playing poker. And I am, I just owe the wrong people more money than I have."

"I'm fairly certainly you'd be good at anything you tried if you bring the same devotion to it that you brought to that blow job."

Harvey smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this, Jack. Safety in talking to strangers."

"I'm not a stranger anymore."

"No, maybe you aren't, but probably you don't want to hang around me. For the first time, I don't know if I can talk my way out of something. And I can fight, but I think the odds are stacked against me. I got knocked into a different life and I don't know if I can find my way back."

"Maybe I can help."

"I don't want charity, someone else's money." Harvey's voice was strained and he looked down, snuggling into Jack's chest as if maybe the last bit of comfort in the world was there. "I don't want to owe anyone, ever again."

"I don't do charity, but maybe I can do something else. I know someone who needs people who can talk their way out of anything."

***

Jessica had carefully read all the files Jack had sent over. He had never asked her to check up on someone he was looking to recruit before. She couldn't help but smile at the picture included; the boy was clearly Jack's type and she wondered how much of this was because of that. But she couldn't question that this Harvey Specter was smart and yet still straying down the wrong path.

Even though she knew the contents of the files, Jessica made a show of looking at them while Jack waited. She liked making Jack wait; she tried not to smile at him having to restrain himself from fidgeting.

"So, Jack, you want to recruit this Harvey Specter to Torchwood? Don't you usually do your own background checks for that? More thorough than we can do for you?"

Jack laughed and Jessica resisted doing the same, although she did smile. Jack's moods were infectious.

"No, we don't need a lawyer for Torchwood. We have you."

"He isn't a lawyer."

"But he will be once he finishes school and you hire him."

"You want _me_ to recruit this lost boy that you found getting beat up in an alley?"

Jack's smile was huge. "Yes. Whatever wrong turn he took, he's clearly a lawyer, Jessica. You can hear it when he talks about it."

"What happens when his gambling problem interferes with his studies and I lose my whole investment?"

Jack inhaled his smile away and blew out slowly. "I'll provide a trust for him. To cover Harvard. I want it to be anonymous. You'll need to create a blind trust and we'll figure out who to say it's from. I'm going to selectively erase his memory, Jessica. He won't remember me and I don’t think the gambling will be a problem anymore."

"Why would you do that? Is that safe, Jack? Is it moral?"

"If I get too involved I won't be helping him, Jess, I'll just bring him more of the trouble that seems to follow me. And yes, it's safe, and since when do you care about moral? This kid deserves a second chance and I'm calling in the big favor you've owed me since we met. In exchange for my saving your life, you save this kid's life. I'll make sure that there's enough money so that the only burden on you is helping him follow through on his dream, which is a dream I'm sure you understand."

Jessica stood up and walked to the window, looking quietly out over the Manhattan skyline as she thought. "You can't just keep trying to save people over and over to make up for the loss of your brother, Jack. I'll do this for you," she said to the glass, "but one fuck-up and he's out."

"I knew you'd agree," Jack said, laughter back in his voice. "Be right back."

Jessica was sitting at her desk when Jack returned with a skinny, bruised boy in an ill-fitting suit.

***

 _November 19, 1995_

 _Dear Jack,_

 _I hope you are being safe, whatever you are getting into out there. It's been a while since I heard from you and you know I worry when you disappear for long periods of time. I hope I'm listed to be notified in case of your, well, dismemberment or disappearance, I guess._

 _Life continues apace here in the real world. I think your young friend is still a little dubious of the origins of his legacy, but since he'd never guess the truth I don't suppose it matters much. He's attributed the memory loss to the concussion from the beating he took when you found him. I still don't know if I agree with your methods, but he is worth saving; everyone is, as you always tell me._

 _I managed to pull some strings and get his acceptance to Harvard reinstated. He doesn't seem to have much family so I've invited him up here for Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, he's accepted. Hopefully, he turns out to be as good of a student as you seem to think he will be._

 _Things are good in New York. Some days it feels like real success is just around the corner, some days I think I'd like to quit it all and go live in a cabin in the woods somewhere. Ha! Can you imagine me in the woods? Never mind. Please write or call when you can, so that I don't worry needlessly. Be good._

 _Love,  
Jessica_

***

 **Summer 1997**

When it was presented to him, it had seemed like a reward, but now after two months in Cardiff, Harvey started to wonder if it wasn't actually punishment. Although that seemed unlikely. Harvey had been on the verge of some very bad life choices when Jessica had found him to give him a nice financial legacy from a relative he'd never even heard of. When she found out he had to turn down Harvard Law she got him back in somehow. And ever since then she had been a friend, a mentor. When she offered him the International Law Internship that Hardman Winston provided, he'd jumped at the chance.

It hadn't been all bad. Harvey had never had a chance to travel much before and being in a foreign country still seemed a little novel. But the Welsh law firm didn't seem to have a lot for him to do and Cardiff didn't seem to have many good secrets to offer up, despite the long hours Harvey had spent lurking in every corner of it he could. The girls here seemed only interested in his American accent and the boys, well, they'd been harder to come by. Outside of work these days, Harvey spent most of his time down at the pub flirting with the old ladies and listening to the men tell the same stories over and over. It was comfortable, but it wasn't exciting. Not the international jet set like Harvey had imagined.

Tonight Harvey had left the pub earlier than usual, taking a rather meandering path home. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. He had wanted excitement, though not really this kind, he thought, as he ran through the alleys of Cardiff, unsure of what, exactly, was chasing him.

"Get down, get down!" Even as he threw himself to the ground, Harvey turned to look for the source of the American accent. Before he could see who it was, there was a flash and he covered his eyes with his arm as the concussion of the blast knocked him back against the wall behind him.

"You alright, kid?" American voice, that voice again. Maybe he was unconscious. Or wait…maybe he had been, but wasn't now? But had any time passed at all? _There's Jack's blue eyes and Jack pulling him up in the alley asking what he's doing here, he shouldn't be here, but the light's wrong and this is all the same, but he's not bruised this time, no he's older now, but Jack isn't, wait who is Jack, of course he wasn't bruised from fists, who'd have done that, and what was that voice and ow, it hurt to breathe._ "Hey, now, eyes open. All right, can you sit up?"

Harvey actually felt his eyes flutter and wondered if he'd fainted or something else embarrassing. But he smelled gunpowder and his head hurt and he didn't know where he was momentarily (frightening) and had the strangest sense of déjà vu as he looked at the face over him (confusing) and it seemed like everything was sort of swirling but pulling back into focus at the same time (disorienting).

"Let's get you up. Are you hurt anywhere?" Strong hands lifted him and Harvey took assessment. He definitely had the wind knocked out of him, and he'd certainly be a little bruised up later, but nothing seemed broken.

"I'm okay." Harvey started to take in his surroundings: a few people a little ways away lifted something, a body maybe, into a van. Nothing in the alley seemed really smashed or blown up, so it must have been a flash grenade or something. There were strong, solid arms around him holding him up. Harvey looked up into the nicest-looking face he'd ever seen outside of an underwear ad and blue eyes that he could fall into, that seemed to hide and show everything at the same time. Hmm, maybe he did have brain damage. A handsome face wasn't usually enough to send him into sentimentality.

"You don't look like the police," he said, taking in every inch of this man whose shirt was the blue of his eyes. His long coat billowed heroically behind him like he was in a film. "You look like an old Navy captain or something."

The man laughed, a sound that resonated deep in Harvey, clicking something open that he really didn't understand. "Captain Jack Harkness."

"Did you get called here from a costume party or something?" Harvey asked, shaking the man's hand. Strong grip that lingered a fraction too long and released with fingers brushing lightly over Harvey's wrist. A signal, subtle but received.

"No, but you could learn some style from me, or find a look that works for you. Let's get you home."

"I don't need to make a police report or anything?" Harvey asked as they rounded the corner. The scene behind them disappeared and they were back in the normal world, or as normal as Cardiff as would ever seem to Harvey.

"Well," Jack said, "you could give me your name and your phone number." His hand tightened on Harvey in a way that was decidedly unprofessional.

"You aren't the police at all, are you?"

"Not exactly, but I do work for the government and I am here to protect."

Harvey thought for a second. His instincts were almost always right and though maybe some leftover adrenaline was blocking it, he didn't feel fear or anything telling him that this guy was anything but good. And he was goddamn good looking. And Cardiff had been really dry so far.

"Okay, ah, well, you know," Harvey fumbled, wondering where his usual smoothness was. "I'm Harvey Specter, and I could really use a pint." He thought of those fingers ghosting over his wrist. It had felt like an invitation to something else.

Jack smiled, a welcome thing, full of flirty promises. "You know," he said, "I could too."

***

Jack was going to call Jessica and give her hell for sending Harvey to Cardiff. Just as soon as he could get out of the bed without waking Harvey, who was draped over him like he knew Jack might try to sneak away.

Harvey was so warm against him, a soft heaviness that Jack imagined was the weight of the promises Harvey would never know Jack had made to him. He reluctantly shifted sideways and gently lifted Harvey's arm off his chest. The absence of touch was a cold vacancy on Jack's skin. Harvey didn't seem to notice, just mumbled something into the pillow and squashed himself deeper into the covers. Not a morning person then, Jack thought.

Jack closed the door as he left the bedroom. He called Jessica from the kitchen phone.

"Someone better be dead if you're calling this line at four in the morning." Not surprisingly, Jessica didn't sound like she was being woken up, so much as just interrupted. Sometimes Jack wasn't convinced she was entirely human. She certainly didn't seem to sleep.

"You sent him to Cardiff. You were supposed to keep him safe." Jack easily matched the annoyance level in Jessica's tone.

"Jack."

"You sent him to Cardiff."

"Aw, it was just a little fun and it really is a good opportunity for him professionally. How was I to know your paths would cross?"

"Don't be coy. I know you did it on purpose. It isn't fair to him or to me, Jessica."

"As long as I'm the one looking out for both of you, your paths are bound to cross, Jack. Don't fucking lecture me on fair at four a.m. I thought you'd want a chance to see how our boy is doing. Have you bedded him already? Because if you have--and I'm sure you have--you've lost all moral high ground about what the right thing is for anyone but yourself. I'm sure I'll hear from you the next time you need me, but until then don't call me and tell me what to do with the charge you gave me. You trust that I'll do whatever I have to for him, even if you keep disappearing." She slammed down the phone. Jack couldn't really blame her, goddamn it.

Lacking anything better to do, Jack re-opened the bedroom door and bustled around the kitchen hoping to find the right combination to wake Harvey up. That combination turned out to be coffee and bacon, which, in Harvey's defense, would work on any reasonable person.

Harvey stumbled into the kitchen, rumpled and wearing a pair of Jack's lounge pants.

"What's going on in here?"

"I thought after a couple months in Wales you could use a proper American breakfast."

Harvey actually licked his lips as he sat down. A motion that, even directed at breakfast, demonstrated the same sort of lascivious promise it had when Jack had first seen Harvey do it years ago.

"Look," Harvey declared, "Coffee! Eggs fully cooked. Toast that's actually warm, and not a bean, tomato or banger in sight."

Jack sat across from him and barely tasted his own food, enjoying watching Harvey's pleasure much more than the actual food. There would be so much bacon in his long future and who knew how much Harvey there would be. Not enough.

"Let me do the dishes," Harvey said, standing up with his plate.

"No." Jack took the plate, from Harvey hand and set it in the sink. "You're my guest, I'll take care of it."

"Don’t be silly, it's the least I can do after you made such a surprisingly good breakfast."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Surprisingly? Hmm, I think there's only one way to settle this."

"What?" Harvey asked.

"Naked wrestling." Jack grabbed a laughing Harvey around the waist and pulled him to the bedroom and threw him down on the bed.

Just for a moment, kissing Harvey, Jack fell back twenty-eight months to the first time he'd felt Harvey's mouth on his and wished he could hold it, keep them together forever; wished he would never have to send Harvey away, unknowing, again. Then Harvey's hands, scratching down his back, broke the spell in the best way possible and Jack wrestled back, pinning Harvey to the bed, his wrists above his head and kissed his way down Harvey's chest.

Eventually he had to let go of Harvey's wrists, reaching lower, pushing the elastic waist pants down and pressing his face against the stiff length of Harvey's cock. He looked up to see Harvey watching him intently.

"I'm going to make you come," Jack said, wrapping his mouth around the head of Harvey's dick and feeling him jerk at the contact.

Jack used every trick he knew, hands and mouth, until the tension in Harvey's body felt like it was trying break away and run, until he could feel it coiling inside Harvey as he went rigid and cried out, "Jack, fuck, oh, Jack," and came in Jack's mouth.

He gentled his hands over Harvey, letting him rest and recover while he explored. Jack learned every curve, every angle, every scar on Harvey's golden skin. He used his fingers, his palms, his cheek, his lips, his tongue to feel every texture, to taste that beautiful skin. He was gentle and tender until he wasn't anymore, until he was hard from the contact, from Harvey, from pure need, and then he squeezed and scratched and found his way back to Harvey's beautiful mouth that curled at the corner and was waiting for Jack to kiss it.

***

If Harvey had the energy left, he'd have joked that he didn't know what was more satisfying, a real American breakfast or Jack's blow job, but the truth was that it was all Jack. A man he'd known less than twelve hours and already Harvey felt like his world was spinning off its axis.

Thoroughly sated by Jack's mouth, Harvey lay, quite content with Jack's touch and light kisses on him. It was the most relaxed he'd felt in years, the most safe. And it was inexplicable, romantic nonsense of the kind Harvey was sure he was immune to.

Jack's exploratory touch was light but not ticklish, lifting away the heavy, post-orgasmic lethargy, making Harvey aware of parts of his body he rarely thought of. He let his hands stray, to brush through Jack's hair, to stroke his cheek. Jack whispered his name in return and continued his mapping of Harvey's skin.

Harvey felt the urgency of Jack's touch slowly increasing, as Jack's breathing grew heavier, so did the weight of his hands. Harvey felt like his whole being was charged by Jack's hands, like he was pulling energy from them, and his body, even so recently spent, was responding to Jack's arousal. Jack's nails scratched down Harvey's ribs as he came up to lick at the corner of Harvey's mouth, cajole him into a kiss, and Harvey knew that this wouldn't be enough, not enough contact, not enough closeness; he needed more from Jack, needed more Jack.

"I want to fuck you before I have to let go of you and send you off into the day," Jack said, kissing away Harvey's first chance to deny that he wanted it too. Because, oh god, did he want it too. And so, as soon as he was given the chance, he begged for it. Now, with Jack looming over him, Harvey was flooded with anxiety almost as strong as his recent arousal, but even with that, Harvey was somehow sure of Jack, that this was the right thing.

"I know I told you last night I didn't want to when we were drunk, that it didn't seem like a good idea to do it that way, but I've never bottomed before. I always, I'm the, the pitcher." Harvey had never found himself in a position before where he had to say anything but, _I want to fuck you. I want you to fuck me_ was something he was a little less smooth at.

"You want me?" Jack asked. Harvey nodded, looking into Jack's gorgeous eyes that seemed to show as much as they hid. "Then I'll be gentle."

Jack reached over the edge of the bed, looking for something and left a crinkly handful of condoms on the side of the bed before he fixed his attention back on Harvey. Harvey felt pulled open, as if Jack, without even asking, had made Harvey unlock parts of himself that had always stayed locked.

This kiss was unlike the others, raw and open and filled with the fire of Harvey's mixed emotions and Jack's very obvious desire. It was a struggle, but one to bring them closer rather than break them apart, and Harvey fell into it, letting himself go as he had when Jack had first touched him, when Jack sucked him off.

It was as romantic as it was procedural. Harvey felt sure that he'd remember it as a tangle of limbs, a struggle for position and placement, and not some magical moment of transformation. It was his first time, it was awkward, it was uncomfortable. And yet, just Jack's fingers inside him felt like such an intense connection, something that stirred lust when it seemed the mechanics of the situation should have left it behind.

"Are you ready?" Jack asked, sitting up and reaching for the condom. Harvey only nodded, afraid he might change his mind if he opened his mouth. "Then switch with me."

For a second Harvey thought maybe he wasn't going through with this at all, that Jack was going to let Harvey fuck him, but no, Jack pulled Harvey up and wrangled him until Harvey was straddling Jack. "It'll be easier, trust me," Jack whispered.

 _Trust you_ , Harvey thought. _I don't even know you_. But it didn't matter. He did trust Jack; he wouldn't have let any of this go this far if he didn't. It was just something between them that felt comfortably familiar.

His breath felt like it was stuck in his chest. He gulped air and tried to relax as Jack lined up with Harvey's well-prepped hole and gently pressed Harvey's hip, urging him to lower himself down.

"Look at me," Jack whispered. "Slow, baby, just as slow as you want."

Harvey locked eyes with Jack and pushed down. It was easy for a second, just stretch, just pressure.

"Yes, just tip your hips toward me a little, relax, lean back, just a little, baby, you're doing so good."

All mechanics, Harvey told himself, just angle and bodies and rhythm, and he could do this. He tipped and twisted and watched Jack watch him. And it did hurt--burned maybe--the same stretch and pressure, but too much, almost too much until the last turn, and if Harvey had ever wondered why it seemed like everyone he fucked had enjoyed it so much, now he knew. His prostate seemed wired to every pleasure system in his body, and he rocked his hips forward more, trying to get the sensation again, and Jack reached for Harvey's hips, pulling him all the way down then waiting.

Harvey just watched Jack, sure the universe would explode if he let the connection go. He slow lifted and lowered experimentally and goddamn goddamn goddamn.

They set an easy rhythm at first, Jack matching what Harvey did, but once all the pressure and stretch slid into pleasure, Harvey felt his whole body relax and he knew Jack felt it, too, because Jack started pushing back against him on each down stroke.

"Good?" Jack asked, and when Harvey said, "Yes, fuck," Jack closed his eyes and tightened his grip on Harvey's hips, speeding up their pace.

Harvey moved his hands and gripped Jack's biceps for balance as he fucked Jack faster, both of them breathless, now. Harvey leaned down to catch Jack's mouth, to taste the words it looked like Jack wanted to say. With the angle switch, pleasure twisted through Harvey's whole body and he let Jack's mouth go in order to fuck him harder, trying to get more for both of them. Jack's hand wrapped around Harvey's cock and all the ecstasy that had been fluttering, waiting under Harvey's skin rushed down to meet Jack's hand.

"Fuck, Harvey," Jack panted as he stroked Harvey's dick, "Fuck, fuck, you feel so good. Want to make you come. Come for me, Harvey, come for me while I fuck, you. Waited so long for this. So fucking beautiful, come on, Harvey, yes, please, fuck, I’m gonna come. Oh god, you're fucking amazing, yes, yes…" And Harvey was coming too as Jack squeezed his cock almost too hard, too much sensation, too much energy, and just for a second Harvey wondered if all the friction actually made them electrically charged before his brain shorted out and he was coming all over his stomach, Jack's stomach and Jack's hand.

It felt like a long time before Jack reached between them and pushed up on Harvey's hip, separating them. He rolled off to one side and watched the perfect lines of Jack's ass as Jack got up and walked to the bathroom. When Jack returned Harvey was still boneless, mindless.

"Come shower," Jack said, kissing Harvey.

It was a perfunctory shower, though Jack seemed to be very distracted by Harvey's mouth and kept interrupting their ablutions to pull Harvey to him and kiss him again.

Dry and dressed Harvey's mind felt clearer. He had to get to his flat, change, get some work done today, Saturday or not. His day stretched ahead of him a known entity, but he felt a delicious anxious twist in his stomach at the possibility of Jack at the end of his day. He knew, really, that the day would be anything but normal. He'd think of Jack all day, feel him all day.

In the kitchen, Jack handed him his glass from breakfast.

"Drink the rest of your juice."

"Okay, mom. Will it make me grow strong bones?" Harvey shoulder-checked Jack, but drank the juice anyway. It was one of the amazing things he'd found in Europe, the orange juice was so much better than in the States. It was a delight because not many things here were better.

"I've got to go into work, but I'll walk you back to your flat."

"Can't get enough of me, can you, Jack?" Harvey tried to sound light, but he could feel Jack's mood darkening and while he couldn't explain why, he was sure something bad was about to happen.

Still the walk to Harvey's flat was companionable enough. He didn't want to admit how pleased he was at how close Jack lived to him. He was really looking forward to having company in Cardiff for the last month he was here.

"Come in and see how the other half lives?" Harvey gestured up the stairs to his tiny flat and Jack nodded and followed. Harvey got a little dizzy on the stairs and felt Jack's hand on his back before he could slip.

"Careful, c'mon, let's get you upstairs."

"Jack," Harvey said as they went through the door into…was this the wrong room? "You aren't supposed to be here. You weren't supposed to be in New York." Wait, they weren't in New York, were they? For a second Harvey wasn't sure what was happening, but he felt like something was finally catching up with him.

"Which way to the bed? Let's get you lying down."

"Jack, something happened with us a long time ago." Harvey wanted to say more but he felt so heavy as Jack helped him lie down. _Jack, where did you go? Jack who doesn't exist except in my dreams, how are you here? Why aren't you always here? You saved me, I know you did._ "I'm so tired."

"I know, Harvey." Jack sounded so sad. "Sleep well."

The last thing Harvey remembered was Jack's kiss on his forehead. It felt like absolution.

***

Jack couldn't understand why it seemed like before the amnesia pill had set in, Harvey's previous memories had briefly come back. He didn't think that was possible. And surely he was just imagining it. Harvey had been disoriented, right? But it had been enough to keep Jack away. From the beginning he'd promised himself no more entanglements. He had intentionally kept away since Harvey started Harvard. That was why he'd been so annoyed with Jessica for sending him to Cardiff in the first place. Jack was determined to keep three thousand, three hundred, and thirty miles between them, to let the differences in their lives prevent them from meeting again. He was determined to let Harvey go.

And yet here Jack stood, in the late summer sun, and watched Harvey get into a cab at the end of the block. Five weeks of watching, making sure he was safe, without Harvey ever knowing he was there had been like being dragged over broken glass, over and over again. But now Harvey was going back to New York, unscathed by Cardiff, free of all memories that would bring him back here. Off to start his new the life, the life Jack had given him, that Jessica would make sure happened.

***

 _June 28, 1998_

 _Jack,_

 _I hope you're doing well. It's been a while since we've talked. Every time I have to execute a will from someone in your organization my heart aches so much for you. I know how much your team means to you and I am so sorry for your loss. I wish there was more I could do._

 _I am feeling old and sentimental tonight. I wish you'd been at Harvey's graduation. He looked so happy to accept that piece of paper. He still has to pass the Bar, of course, but I think I've got a good position lined up for him in the fall, someplace he can get some good trial experience. After the ceremony I took him to dinner in the North End. I think he ended up going home with a couple of the servers. He hits on people so smoothly with the worst pick-up lines and it always works. It's like you taught him yourself, Jack._

 _Quentin moved out last month. I think it's for the best; we're both just too involved with our careers. Still, I feel sad and I wonder if I will become one of those people who seems to have nothing but work in their lives? Surely not--I'll always have you, right? And now Harvey, too. He should be here in a couple days, for the Fourth and to look for a place to live in New York. I'm glad to have him closer, but maybe I'll worry more if I have to see the shenanigans he gets up to?_

 _You did such a good thing, Jack, helping him restart his life. He's whip-smart and maybe matched only by you in stubbornness. I feel like I've been watching him grow up. I wish you saw it, too. I wish you were here to share all this change with us. I imagine you get enough of that where you are now. Keep saving the world, my friend, but be good to yourself and come visit when you can. I'm becoming a melancholy old spinster. Surely I need your terrible jokes to rescue me from myself._

 _Love you,  
Jessica_

***

 **Winter 2001**

It had been a very bad couple of years for Jack. Finding himself in a police holding cell in New York City wasn't the worst that had happened to him, but it was very disappointing. He should have been paying more attention to what was happening in America, should have had the right documentation for himself and the equipment he'd been carrying, should have been wary of cops who now thought everyone was a terrorist.

Worse yet, things seemed to have gotten confused. He had left a message for Jessica to come get him, but she still hadn't arrived when the guard told Jack an Assistant District Attorney was on the way to interview him.

Jack thought maybe he shouldn't be surprised to see Harvey, looking so sharp (he did find a look that worked for him) and so grown into himself. Harvey clearly didn't recognize him. Why would he? Jack had carefully erased himself from Harvey's memory every time they had met. But now, after all the losses Jack had suffered in the past couple years (compounded by hundreds of years of loss before that), Harvey was the most welcome sight he had seen in a long time. He stood as Harvey crossed to the table and put out his hand to meet Harvey's.

"Harvey Specter."

The handshake was firm, solid, commanding. Jack felt proud, though he'd done nothing but stay away. It was all Harvey, become who he was meant to be.

"Jack Harkness. Did Jessica send you?"

Confusion flashed across Harvey's face though someone who didn't know him, hadn't studied him, might not have seen it. "Jessica Pearson? No, I'm with the District Attorney's office. How do you know Jessica?"

"She's my lawyer."

"Fuck." Harvey sighed deeply. "Well, let's see if we can't find her. I know Jessica and there's no point in starting an interview until she gets here."

They waited in silence that stretched, though it wasn't more than ten minutes before Jessica came in. She'd already had the charges dropped and seemed impatient with both of them.

"Jack," she said, without greeting or preamble, "you should know better. Harvey, I assume you weren't trying to question my client before I arrived?"

"No, ma'am."

Harvey had become a man in the intervening years, but Jack was secretly thrilled to see that Jessica still had the power to drop him right down. Of course, she had that power over Jack too, so maybe he shouldn't gloat about it.

"I imagine you're both hungry," Jessica said once they were outside the building. "Come on, we're celebrating."

"What are we celebrating?" Harvey asked hurrying to keep up with her pace. Jack tilted his head a little. Was Jessica taller than Harvey? Maybe it was just the heels.

"My freedom?" Jack asked speeding up to catch them both.

Jessica laughed. "No," she called over her shoulder, "Hardman is making me a Managing Partner tomorrow."

The restaurant was loud and private at the same time. The window next to them steamed with the warm air on the cold glass and blocked the view of passersby slipping on the icy sidewalks.

"I've been expecting it since Winston died, of course. I know that's morbid, but it's how business is sometimes." Jessica took a sip of wine and looked at them both. "How strange," she paused, "to be celebrating with both of you."

Jack froze, knowing that Jessica wouldn't reveal him, but still, sitting next to Harvey made it feel like anything could happen. Harvey, Jack realized, always made him feel that way. Hopeful for the future. Every message Jessica sent about his progress, however brief or detailed, was proof to Jack that he could make good things happen in the world. The suited gentleman next to him was a far cry from the bruised boy he'd picked up in an alley not far from here, in distance and time both, but far away in life, in things that had happened since then.

Jessica seemed to read Jack's trepidation and went back to telling Harvey law things, work things, not Jack things, and Jack was good with that. He let his thoughts drift, worried over things back in Cardiff, things he couldn't change but had to, wondered what his team was doing without him.

"So you've known Jessica a long time?" Harvey's question jarred Jack out of his own head.

"Oh," Jack smiled knowingly at Jessica for Harvey's benefit, "longer than I think she'd care to admit. How do you know Jessica?" he added, recognizing that he was supposed to participate in this celebration, in this conversation.

"Hmm," Harvey said, looking fondly at Jessica. Jack felt a stab that Harvey didn’t look at him like that. "Well, I guess you could say she saved me."

"That's a little dramatic," Jessica interrupted and poured them all more wine. "I just executed the will when a family member left him a financial legacy."

"And got me into Harvard Law," Harvey challenged.

"You got yourself in, despite being the laziest student I've ever seen. I just helped along the situation."

"I was fifth in my class!"

The conversation went on until Jack felt like he was drowning in all the anecdotes of their lives, filling himself with the pieces he'd missed, hearing the words from their mouths and not just from Jessica's mail. Harvey's eyes were filled with life, with promise, none of the dread and hunger they'd had that first day. Jessica looked, well, like she always did--beautiful, serene. Her attention shined on them like sun warming the earth in spring. Jack wondered how anyone could live if they'd once been her focus and then were cast out of her affections. He hoped never to find out. She had always been a true friend to him, no matter how strange his world got.

"Tell me something, Jack, something about Jessica that I shouldn't know!" Harvey's grin lit the room.

Jack laughed in return, "Oh, I'm sure you know well enough that that would get us both in trouble. She'd punish us."

"Turn you both over my knee like the reprobates you are."

"Kinky!" Jack countered. Harvey looked slightly mortified but he kept his eyes on Jack. Jack, just for a second let himself focus on Harvey's mouth, to remember what it was like to be with him. Harvey gazed back, a question his eyes, his tongue licking out, just slightly, to wet his lips. And suddenly the spell was broken, as if Harvey had caught himself doing something he knew he shouldn't.

"I've got an early day tomorrow, I really should be going. Thank you, Jessica, for letting me celebrate your good news, and for introducing me to your friend." Harvey reached out, to shake Jack's hand. Jessica stood and hugged him. Jack heard her whisper, _"Be good,"_ into Harvey's ear and then Harvey was gone like a wind had blown him from the room.

Jack turned to see if he could see Harvey out the window, but the steam prevented it. He sat back down to find Jessica's eyes boring into him.

"You should know him," she said. "Know the man you made."

Jack shook his head, "You made him, he made himself. I just check up on him."

"Then don't go looking for him, Jack. Not this time. Go home, back to Cardiff. Call me when you need me, but please, if you won't let him know you, then leave Harvey to his life. Promise me."

"No." Jack had already made this promise to himself. He could break promises to himself, but not to Jessica.

But it didn't matter. Jack didn't get the chance to look for Harvey; emergency called him back to Torchwood and he left, for the first time, with Harvey having remembered him. Maybe Jessica was right. Maybe Jack should let him be.

***

 _JH- Thought you'd like to know that our boy has started making the news. -JP_

 _ **Young ADA Unmatched In Wins**  
By Sam Erskine, City Reporter  
December 16, 2002  
Assistant District Attorney Harvey Specter has yet to lose a case. Of the nearly 500 attorneys employed in the District Attorney's office, Specter is the only one who claims this achievement. In his short stint with the New York District Attorney's Office Mr. Specter has prosecuted 87 cases and has come out with a conviction every single time. Asked to comment, District Attorney Cameron Dennis said, "We are very glad to have found Harvey Specter. This office supports all his work and I personally have taken an interest in his cases. Each member of our staff could stand to be a little more like Mr. Specter."_

***

 **Autumn 2003**

Though he didn't track her schedule, they usually kept in touch and so Jack was surprised to find Jessica not in New York when he showed up at Pearson Hardman. He was just assuring her new assistant that she need not schedule an appointment, he would call her cell phone himself, when Harvey walked up.

"Jack? Harvey Specter. We met a couple years ago?"

"Harvey, I couldn't forget you." Harvey’s handshake was firmer, more commanding. Jack felt something stir low in his belly at the touch.

"Not in a holding cell this time?" Harvey smiled. It really did light the room. Goddamn him.

"No," Jack laughed and finally released Harvey's hand. "Just unexpectedly in town. I thought I'd check up on Jessica but she's gone, it would appear."

"I think she's actually back this afternoon." Harvey looked to Jessica's assistant for confirmation and was given a foreboding look of _what the fuck are you doing?_ in return. He shrugged it off, turning his focus back to Jack. "Are you here on business? Let me buy you lunch. We can pass the time until Jessica gets back. You can surprise her."

"That's, well, yes, I'd like that." It was a terrible idea, Jack thought, but once he'd even briefly touched Harvey there was no going back. He'd follow along hoping for contact, anything to further wake up the memories of Harvey's mouth that he carried with him every day.

"Great," Harvey said, turning to lead the way. His suits had taken a step up since Jack had last seen him. They looked very good on him. Very good.

"So you're at Pearson Hardman, now? Weren't you an ADA last time I saw you?" Jack asked only to cover the awkward elevator silence. He knew perfectly well everything that had happened in Harvey's life.

“Yes, well…Jessica is a hard woman to say no to." Jack knew there was more to the story—obviously Jessica had filled him in—but he couldn't help the flare of irrational jealousy at the picture of Harvey not saying no to Jessica in a myriad of other ways. Or maybe it was jealousy at how large a place Jessica had in Harvey’s life while Jack had none. Jack had made the choice and he had to live with it.

They went to a dark little bistro around the corner from the Pearson Hardman offices. Harvey was clearly comfortable there and known by the staff. For as much as Jack felt like he was pretending to be someone else (who didn't know Harvey at all), it was casual and easy like old friends meeting up after far too long. Harvey teasingly tried to get Jack to tell stories about Jessica like he did before. Jack unwittingly played mysterious when he was unable to answer questions about his own work. He felt saved by the bell when Harvey's pocket beeped and he announced he had to get to a client meeting.

"I'm sorry to abandon you, but duty does call."

"It was nice to see you again, Harvey. Good luck to you."

"Thanks, Jack. You too, in whatever you might need it for." Harvey's handshake was strong and lingering and Jack clapped him on the back and stifled the urge to pull Harvey to him.

Then Harvey was gone in whirlwind and when Jack tried to pay the bill he found Harvey had already done it. Ever the gentleman.

Jack wandered aimlessly through the park. It was a very rare day when he could literally stop and smell the roses. He should probably just get back to Cardiff; he didn't have business keeping him here other catching up with an old friend. And yet he couldn't quite make himself leave.

Late afternoon found Jack on a bench in Central Park watching little kids and their nannies chasing ducks, trying to force bread on them. Older kids were coming home from school, grouped in matching uniforms, just like in Cardiff. Jack realized how utterly out of touch he had become with the wider world, the part of the world that didn't know that it was constantly in peril. In some way, Harvey had become his connection to that. The reports, emails and stories that Jessica sent were like a window into a world so different from Jack's that it felt like a fairytale. Office politics and corporate ladder-climbing and wins and losses that only affected the players involved. For a while, Jack imagined Harvey in meetings, in conference rooms, at business lunches, with clients; imagined what Harvey's coworkers thought of him (admiration), said about him (jealousy), wanted from him (respect, sex). It was a strangely tiny world that, too, was removed from everyday life, though perhaps not so far removed as Jack's world of aliens and time travel.

When his phone rang, it took Jack a second to realize that it was him ringing. The screen told him it was Pearson Hardman. Jessica was finally back, her assistant surely calling to wrangle him in.

"Jack Harkness," he answered.

"Jack, it's Harvey. Jessica just called me and it looks like she isn't going to get in until late tonight. She says she has some papers she's been needing you to sign. Would it be possible for you to come by my office later? If it's not too much trouble."

"Harvey, hello. Sure, anything for Jessica, right? I'd hate to find out what happens if I don't do what she needs." Jack laughed but he didn't feel the humor in it. What was Jessica doing?

"Great. Is seven too late?" Harvey paused. "We could get dinner after if you don't have other plans."

"That sounds great. See you then."

Jack clicked the phone closed. _You need to know him,_ he heard Jessica's voice in his head. _Not like this,_ he thought back at her righteously smug face. It hurt too much to see him and not touch him.

But, of course, Jack went to sign the papers. They went to dinner, and it was only unexpected that they didn't end up at Harvey's condo, but rather the bland apartment that Pearson Hardman kept for visiting clients.

"You said you hadn't gotten a hotel room, so you should stay here, let the company pay to keep you. No one is using the rooms anyway." Harvey keyed a code into a pad on the outside of the door, a new addition since Jack had last been here. They stepped in and Harvey flicked on the light. It had been redecorated--different wall paint, new fabric--but it was the room in which he had first kissed Harvey nearly a decade ago.

"I've stayed here before. I didn't realize it was still..." and Harvey’s mouth closed over his, Harvey's hands gripped his lapels and pushed him back against the closed door. Jack fell into a kiss that was eight years long and with a boy and the man he'd become at the same time.

"I'm not usually this forward," Harvey said against his mouth.

"For a lawyer, you're a terrible liar," Jack answered, pushing at Harvey's coat, trying to get closer to him.

"Yours too," Harvey said, addressing Jack's coat, as he pulled him further into the room and tried to divest him of as much of his clothing as possible.

"I've always loved a man in suspenders," Harvey said. "I don't know why exactly. Someone once told me to find a style that worked for me and to stick with it. You've definitely done that," he finished, fumbling with Jack's shirt buttons and leaned in for another kiss.

Coats and shirts were left on the floor where they fell; shoes were kicked off with little grace. Jack and Harvey stood in the center of the room, facing each other, Harvey's hands on the fastening of Jack's trousers.

"Though I'm fairly certain Jessica knows everything about me, she probably shouldn't know this." Harvey said.

"Because I'm a client?" Jack asked.

"Because you're a client, because you're a _friend_ , because being here with you feels like I'm breaking a lot of rules that I didn't know existed." Harvey undid Jack's pants and slid his hands under the fabric, resting them on the bare skin of Jack's hips. "Because I want you so badly, I don't think I could stop myself even if I knew for sure that we were doing something wrong."

Jack reached up, cupping Harvey's face in both hands and pushed forward a little so his erection brushed across Harvey's. "I'm certain there are no rules to break in this room," Jack said. He pressed a rough and desperate kiss to Harvey's mouth while Harvey did his best to divest them both of their pants.

"You know what there is in this room?" Harvey asked, once they were both naked.

"I don't know what I need besides this," Jack answered pushing Harvey back a bit so he could look at all of his bare, golden skin.

Harvey laughed. "Let's make it even better. Come on," he grabbed Jack's hand and tugged, "these rooms have the most amazing shower you've ever seen. Right now I'm having my condo bathroom remodeled to put one in for myself."

Harvey led the way and Jack found that the bathroom had been seriously upgraded since his last visit. Behind a glass wall was a Swiss shower with at least twelve heads that easily took up half the large room and would generously hold two people. Harvey smiled over his shoulder as he went to a control panel on the wall.

Jack returned the smile. "You could do some very innovative things in that shower."

The water kicked on, sounding like a summer storm. Harvey opened the door and stuck in his hand, feeling the temperature. "Come on," he urged again, "let's find out what those things are."

Jack followed Harvey in. It was clear from the fixtures and the cedar benches on either side that the space could double as a steam room as well. The water was warm and the pressure was perfect, enough to make Jack gasp as it hit him. He saw Harvey smile at the sound.

Their bodies slid wetly together, Jack's skin pale against Harvey's. The water pounded on them from all directions. Harvey licked his lips, catching a trickle of water running down his face, and Jack released every care he had, every promise he'd made to himself, every bit of self-denial and grabbed Harvey by the arms and kissed him, hard, his own tongue pushing to find Harvey's to taste. They turned in the waterfall and hit the wall with their shoulders, staying there for a second, letting the wall hold them up as they kissed and their hands reached for every bit of skin they could touch.

Harvey broke the kiss and Jack leaned down, his forehead on Harvey's shoulder, trying to catch his breath, hear his own thoughts over the beating of his heart.

"You look even better wet," Harvey said into Jack's ear and then his hands, already soapy somehow, were between them and he grasped Jack's erection, ending all possibility of Jack finding his thoughts again.

Jack tipped his head back and let the water flow on to his face as Harvey's hands worked his cock expertly. He let his hips buck up into Harvey's strokes. A steady stream of nonsense--Harvey's name, gods invoked and cursed--poured from Jack's mouth, only just audible over the water noise. Harvey slid lower, one hand on Jack's cock and the other caressing his balls, then moving under, a finger pushing up into Jack's ass and it was too soon and it was too much and Jack was coming so hard into Harvey's hand. He dropped his head down so he wouldn't drown, and tipped forward, Harvey catching his weight as lightning pleasure shocked through Jack's body, pulsing out into Harvey's hand.

"Wow, Jack, I didn't know you liked me so much."

Jack tensed for a second, ready to defend him, the words, _it's been a long time,_ on his lips, but he looked up into Harvey's sunlight smile and it didn't matter.

"I like making you come. I could get used to you looking at me like that. I think I will devote the whole night to making that happen again."

Jack laughed. "Let's try something else first." He grabbed Harvey by the hips and backed up until he felt the cedar bench hit the back of his thighs. Jack dropped down on to the bench, his hand still on Harvey's hip and his face now nearly even with Harvey's cock. He leaned in close enough for Harvey to feel his breath and looked up through his wet lashes to find Harvey looking down at him, lips full and half-open, pupils dilated but eyes very focused on Jack and just how close his mouth was to Harvey's dick.

"Can I do something for you?" Jack asked, smiling as innocently as he could mange in this position.

Harvey's mouth closed and he swallowed before his tongue darted out over his lips. "Suck my cock, Jack."

As Jack leaned forward to close his mouth over the head of Harvey's cock, Harvey's hand came to rest in Jack's hair. Jack took as much of Harvey into his mouth as he could, reaching to wrap his hand around the base of Harvey's dick when the head hit the back of Jack's throat. He sucked and licked, working his tongue over every inch, finding the taste of Harvey under the water, making Harvey moan above the drum of the shower.

Harvey's hand slid down, cupping the base of Jack's skull, gripping lightly, urging Jack to speed up, and Jack obliged, swallowing and trying not gag as he took Harvey deeper in with every stroke. His free hand ran up Harvey's leg to his ass, grabbing and pulling Harvey in closer with it.

"Fuck, Jack, fuck, that feels good, don't, ah, fuck, don't stop, it's, yeah, yeah, right there, fuck, fuck. Jack Jack Jack Jack."

Jack almost choked as Harvey came in his mouth, too focused on how his name sounded on Harvey's lips to pay attention to doing it right. Come burned in the back of his throat as he tried to swallow and breathe all at once. By the time he recovered himself they were both laughing.

"Little out of practice at the finish there, Jack?"

"Fuck you," Jack countered smartly.

"Only if you're very, very lucky," Harvey replied and reached for the soap. He diligently but quickly cleaned both of them and stepped out, handing Jack a massive, very white, very fluffy towel. Drying off wasn't as efficient, as Harvey seemed to be easily distracted by newly dried parts of Jack that he kept slowing to kiss and lick and bite until Jack almost couldn't stand it, or stand up anyway.

"Bed?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Give me a minute?"

Jack left Harvey to the bathroom and went searching for something he remembered from his previous stays here. Yes, there was a stereo in the cabinet, much more elaborate and complicated than the earlier one, but to Jack's surprise there was still a turntable and a stack of old vinyl records beside the CD player. He pawed through the few there, amazed at what they were. He quickly picked one and put it on. Then he dimmed the lights in the bedroom. He stood, naked, looking out over Manhattan, lit only by the night lights of the city. Harvey came up from behind and slid his arms around Jack's waist, kissing the back of his neck as he did. Jack craned his neck and met Harvey's mouth.

"Nice choice on the music," Harvey said, breaking the kiss.

Jack turned to face him, slipping his arms around Harvey. "I gotta say, I was a little surprised to find Smokey Robinson's _Special Occasion_ in what amounts to a hotel room."

Harvey shrugged, the corner of his mouth curling a little. "Sometimes I entertain here. A few pieces I have duplicates of in my collection, so I keep the lesser copies here."

"Entertain?"

"My job requires me to be prepared for all possible outcomes in negotiations," Harvey said with a very serious face, though his eyebrow was twitching with enough mirth to give him away.

"Hmmph," Jack answered. "I'll _entertain_ you," and he pulled Harvey toward the bed, stumbling and causing them both to fall onto it, laughing.

Jack took advantage of the situation and rolled them until he had Harvey pinned to the bed. They both quieted, each watching the other.

"You have very old eyes," Harvey said.

"Is that a compliment?"

"I don't know. Just there's something about you, Jack. I know how ridiculous that sounds, like a line to get you into bed…"

"Already done!"

"Well one of the things I like about you is that you're incredibly easy."

"I'll show you easy." Jack kissed Harvey's breath away. It wasn't like he could turn it on exactly, but for all the jokes he'd ever made about them, his 51st century pheromones where like catnip to some men of this era. It wasn't like Jack manipulated that, but it was to his advantage, and as far as he could tell it really worked on Harvey.

Jack pressed his knee down, spreading Harvey's legs and shifting so that their cocks pressed together. Harvey was already half hard again.

"Happy to see me?"

Harvey laughed and twisted his hand into Jack's hair, pulling him, almost too hard, back into a kiss as they ground their hips together, neither getting quite enough friction. Their mouths met in long, slow kisses, Jack breaking to lick and bite at as much of Harvey as he could reach, cataloging the tiniest differences since he'd last been able to explore. Harvey's chest had broadened and he clearly spent a lot time at the gym--his stomach was too firm to be an accident of genetics. There were scars and marks that Jack couldn't remember from before. Jack kissed and licked across every change that he found. Harvey for his part seemed to both enjoy the attention and return it, running his hands over every bit of Jack as if he could memorize him. Their breathing filled the silence as side A of Smokey Robinson ended on the record player.

"I want to fuck you, Harvey Specter," Jack said softly after licking up the edge of Harvey's ear.

"I'd like to negotiate a counter-offer.

"You're supposed to say, 'Please, take me, Jack.' You want to top?'" Jack smiled.

"I usually top," Harvey agreed.

"Always?"

Harvey shrugged.

"Here's my offer then, counselor. Let's make tonight something we will both always remember. Make it something different, so I'm not just anyone you brought here to _entertain_. Would you like to make a counter argument?"

Harvey looked searchingly into Jack's eyes for a minute and then kissed him softy. "I'm going to turn over the record." He slid off the bed and walked to the cabinet. As he lifted the record, Harvey looked back over his shoulder, taking in Jack naked on the bed.

"I accept your offer," he said when he crawled back into the bed, reaching for the side table drawer and pulling out condoms and lube, "Though I trust you'll agree to let me change my mind at the last minute? This isn't a firmly binding agreement."

Jack nodded and resisted the urge to say _I'll show you firm._ He took the items out of Harvey's hand and laid them by the pillows as he rolled Harvey over onto his back, kissing him and stroking his fingers over all of Harvey's bare skin. Jack maneuvered him until Harvey was on his back, knees bent, with Jack kneeling between his spread thighs. Jack flipped open the lube and filled his hand, warming it slightly between his palms before wrapping one hand around Harvey's cock and reaching between his cheeks with the other. Harvey twitched as Jack pushed his finger in.

"Shh, come on now, push back against me, yeah, there we go," Jack said as he slipped his slick finger all the way in and worked it out again, building up to a steady rhythm before adding a second finger.

"Jesus fuck," Harvey mumbled.

"Relax, just let it…" Jack curled his fingers a little, feeling for Harvey's prostate as he did.

"Oh!" Harvey's back arched a little and Jack smiled.

Jack petted over Harvey's belly and tickled over his cock, feeling it harden more at his touch. He prepped Harvey slowly, making it as good as he could manage.

"It's not too late to renegotiate," he said, reaching for the condoms and leaning in to kiss Harvey.

"You shouldn't try to get out of closing this deal," Harvey said and tipped his hips up, inviting. Jack slicked more lube over the condom and settled between Harvey's legs, lifting his hips more and angling his cock against Harvey's hole.

"Just breathe and push back against me, shhh, yeah, just like that." Jack pushed further in and reached to grip the back of Harvey's thighs, bending him almost in half as he entered Harvey all the way. He paused, letting them both get used to it, listening to Harvey's ragged breathing before he started to pull back and fuck him. Harvey reached for his own cock but Jack pushed his hand back. "I just want you to feel me for a second," he said, lifting Harvey's legs up over his shoulders and working for the right angle. He knew he found it when Harvey hissed and started to rock back against him.

It was Harvey's new eagerness, the openness on his face that almost sent Jack over the edge. The tightness, the heat, the pressure; just Harvey, finally Harvey.

"Touch yourself," Jack croaked out, not sure how long he was going to last. "I want you to come with me inside you."

"Fuck, Jesus, fuck, Jack." Harvey wrapped his hand around his erection and stroked hard and fast. He looked up into Jack's eyes and that was all it took. Crimson crawled up Jack's spine and unfurled in his belly, his balls tightening as he watch Harvey beneath him. His brain unlocked and Jack let go, came crying out Harvey's name and fucking hard into the heat of Harvey's body. He felt air rushing back into his lungs and tried to steady himself on Harvey's hips, to not fall onto Harvey's fast-moving hand as he jacked himself off.

"Oh Jesus, Jack, fuck I don't, fuck, I don't think anyone's ever looked at me like that." And Harvey tipped his head back as he came all over his hand and stomach, his ass clenching around Jack's softening cock. Jack held still until Harvey recovered himself and then he pulled out slowly, hearing Harvey sigh at the loss of contact.

Jack leaned down and kissed Harvey's open, slack mouth. "Shh, I'll be right back," he said when Harvey reached up and tried to pull him in.

On his way to the bathroom, Jack snagged his pants off the floor and brought them along, already searching in his pocket. He found the little white tablet he was looking for and dropped it into a drinking glass on the sink, filling it with water and setting it aside as he tied off the condom and tossed it. Jack washed his face and stared at himself in the mirror. The bliss of minutes before was already being crowded out by the dark days ahead, the days without Harvey, the days when Harvey barely knew him. For the hundredth time Jack wished things were different, that his life was different, that it was one he could share with Harvey.

But it wasn't. He dried his face, picked up the glass of water and went back to Harvey.

"I brought you water," Jack said, looking down at Harvey, fit and boneless in the bed, sprawled in the best display of his tight stomach, of the clean lines of his chest, the sharp curve of his hip bone, his cock now curled and soft, looking like something that needed protection.

Harvey sat up and accepted the glass, drinking half of it down in one go and then offering it back to Jack.

"No, I had one, it's for you."

Harvey finished the glass and Jack took it from him and set it aside before he crawled back into the bed. He pressed his face into Harvey's neck, hiding his shame as Harvey's arms twined around his neck, his hands stroking through Jack's hair.

"You're right," Harvey said softly, his breath hot against Jack's ear. "This is something I will never forget. Thank you, Jack."

***

"You can't keep doing this to him, Jack. It isn't fair to him." If she wasn't so mad, Jessica would have found it funny to be yelling at Jack about Harvey. They were the only two people in this world who could make her this mad.

"I'm not hurting him, Jess. I'm doing it to protect him."

"Fucking him and drugging him is protecting him? Continuously abandoning him is protecting him?" Anger dragged the crudity out of her and Jessica found she was even more mad because of that.

"I'm not his father, leaving him to fend for himself. I saved him, I'm still trying. I…" Jack faltered and Jessica deflated at the look on his face. She turned and walked to the edge of her wide balcony to look out over the city. It was too cold to be outside this morning and too beautiful to be anywhere else. She pulled her coat closer as Jack came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his coat as well. "I just want him to succeed, to get his dreams, and he's so close. I'm afraid if I'm part of his life, well, you don't know how much pain I cause for everyone near me."

 _What about me?_ Jessica thought. _You cause me pain. I'm the one left picking up after both of you all the time. When this breaks it will break all of us._ She knew when to push and when not to. "It's a bad way to go, Jack, to love him and never tell him. I know you do love him. How could you not? But you need to be fair to him."

"I am being fair," Jack said into her hair, as they both looked out over the city.

Jessica sighed. She'd known for years that Jack was her equal in stubbornness but she wasn't going to let this go, not until she won, even if that wasn't today.

"Did you do it to him before you left this morning? The amnesia pill? What do you call it?"

"Retcon. I put it in his water before we went to sleep last night. He'll remember our lunch yesterday, maybe signing papers with me, but won't remember last night. When he wakes up this morning, he'll think that he went out and probably drank too much."

The silence stretched as the Sunday morning city came to life below them. It wasn't until the breeze kicked up that Jessica realized her neck was wet from Jack's tears.

"Let's get some coffee," she said, not looking as she turned and walked back into her apartment, letting Jack mourn his own mistakes.

***

\----- Original Message -----  
 _From: jessica.pearson@PH-Law.com  
To: jack1381@yahoo.com  
Sent: Friday, Feb 20, 2004 10:32 PM  
Subject: check in_

 _I realized when I looked at the calendar this morning that we've known each other for almost twenty years, Jack. How are we old enough for that to be possible? We were adults already when we met. Well, I was, you were just whatever you are, I guess._

 _I know you must feel like I'm hounding you about this, but I really wish you would come to New York and spend some time with me and Harvey. I want him to know you. It's selfish, but it's so hard to keep from him that I'm reporting on him. Sometimes it seems like all my life is my work accomplishments and Harvey's. I can share mine with Harvey but I can't share his with anyone but you, and you're so far away. You should be a known part of this. It's unfair to have secrets like this. And you need so much goodness in your life to balance what you do._

 _You don't have to say you'll come. Just write and tell me you're okay. I hear things, Jack, and I worry._

 _Love,  
Jessica_

***

 **Spring 2006**

Cardiff was both the same and different than Harvey remembered it. He had a fleeting thought that there was something important about an alley in Cardiff that he should remember. But then the woman was pressing him back into the stone wall, her mouth hot on his and for one second, two, three, Harvey wasn't thinking about anything else. Until the woman suddenly wasn't against him anymore and everything around them turned to chaos.

"On your knees! Get down and keep your hands where I can see them!"

"Don't move, stay against the wall!"

"Oy, you, don't try running!"

Welsh accents clattered down the alley mixed with the sounds of gun safeties being released and Harvey froze, unsure which commands were directed at him and trying to take in what was going on around him. The woman he'd just been kissing was on her knees in front him (thankfully Harvey would never have to admit in court that even in this scene that made his cock twitch a little) with her hands behind her head. There were two very attractive women and a very handsome young man in a good suit with gun trained on her. And another man with kind eyes and a very cruel mouth with his gun on Harvey. Harvey slowly raised his hands, eyes locked on the gun pointing at him. Everything seemed still for one breath, two, three and then everything around him was movement.

The cruel-mouthed man and one of the women hauled up Harvey's companion and handcuffed her, pulling her down the alley. The man looked suspiciously back over his shoulder at Harvey like he regretted something. Probably sorry he didn't get to shoot me, Harvey thought, and shuddered at something he saw behind the man's eyes.

"Sir, you'll need to come with us please," said the handsome man in the suit. Up close Harvey could see that he wasn't more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Dark eyes and hair.

Harvey nodded, trying to figure what was going on. Had the woman been a prostitute? Because now that he thought about it, though he was usually careful, Harvey had no memory of coming out into the alley or of how he'd even met the woman. He couldn't be at fault here, but he knew better than to answer questions that weren't being asked of him.

"Are you arresting me?" He asked, realizing his hands were still up and putting them down.

"No, sir," said the man.

"We need to ask you some questions. You'll need to come with us please," said the woman. Harvey turned his attention to her. With eyes almost black and hair to match, she wasn't perfect but spectacularly beautiful in way that was entirely hers, a woman comfortable in her own skin. Harvey sighed and nodded again, following them out of the alley. Apparently all of the most attractive people in Cardiff were in this alley with guns. And, given his current circumstances, that seemed like a very bad thing.

The man helped Harvey into the back of black SUV and everyone remained silent while they drove. A few minutes later they parked at the tourist entrance of the Millennium Centre and hustled Harvey down a dark hallway to a service elevator. It suddenly occurred to Harvey that he actually had no idea if these people were law enforcement at all. Maybe this was a set-up and he was being kidnapped.

During the especially long elevator ride down, Harvey wondered how quickly he could call Jessica and at least let her know he was in trouble. He was also surprised to discover he had no idea how to rapidly dial emergency services in Wales, just that it wasn't 911. But it was 9-something? Fuck. And then the elevator doors opened and Harvey started wondering about other things entirely.

The room, which was really more like maybe an abandoned missile silo, spread out beside them. The other man and woman from the alley were at computer stations across the room. The woman seemed indifferent, but the man watched him closely as Harvey was led into to the room.

"Well what do we have here? This is a surprise," said a familiar voice from the upper right. Harvey looked up to see a man in long blue military coat standing on metal catwalk. He started down the stairs, a smile growing his face.

"Jack!" Harvey exclaimed, still only half-sure that was who he was seeing.

"Harvey Specter!" Jack grinned as if they were meeting unexpectedly in the pub. As he crossed the room, Harvey thought he caught a look between the people on either side of him.

"Someone you know, Jack?" The black-haired woman asked, her voice giving away how strange this seemed to her. The young man on the other side let go of Harvey's arm and stepped back.

Jack came forward and reached out to shake Harvey's hand and pulled him into a half hug which Harvey found himself returning, so jarred by the unexpectedness of the greeting he didn't know what else to do. Jack pushed him back and straightened Harvey's lapels. "You look great, Harvey! Good to see you."

Harvey could feel that the confusion in the room wasn't just his. Every pair of eyes was on them; every person in the room was still, waiting to see what would happen.

"I see you've met some of my team already," Jack grinned, "Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones." Harvey turned as the man and woman both stepped further back from him and nodded slight greetings. "And this is Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper." The woman and man at the computer terminals both nodded to Harvey, their expressions on the stern side of neutral.

"Another surprise old friend, Jack?" Owen Harper asked, concern and anger apparent in his tone.

"Harvey is," Jack grinned like he was going to tell a great joke, "my attorney." He laughed. "Although I am surprised to see you in Cardiff, Harvey." Everyone in the room seemed to visibly sag with relief. "Ianto, can you get us some coffee? I'll talk to Harvey in my office. Please do your best brewing and make it a cup he'll never forget. This way, Harvey."

Harvey had the sense that everything was suddenly business as usual with the rest of the people in the room as he followed Jack; each of them seemed set on some regular task and was pointedly ignoring them while still casting furtive curious glances.

Jack's office was a mess of papers and curious objects, art and science fiction toys mostly, from what Harvey could tell. He took the chair offered him as Jack sat behind the desk.

"I'm having the strangest night," Harvey said. "I found myself rather unexpectedly in dark Cardiff alley, surrounded at gun point, by what I took to be the police and suddenly I'm underground in what looks like a science fiction movie set with one of my firm's clients. Care to explain any of this to me, Jack?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know, Harvey," Jack said, "but I'll do my best to make you understand what I can."

Ianto entered with a tray bearing coffee and everyone remained silent as he distributed cups, offering Harvey cream and sugar like he was a waiter.

"Anything else, sir?" He asked Jack. Jack smiled in return.

"Thank you, Ianto, that will be all. You can tell the team that if everything is secured from tonight's capture, they can leave for the night."

Ianto nodded, casting another quizzical glance at Harvey and closed the door behind him as he left.

"Oh, the things that boy can do," Jack said taking a sip of his coffee and inhaling the steam off of it before he set it down. There was hint of dirty amusement in Jack's words, but Harvey wasn't feeling amused at all. He was coming down from a level of fear he hadn't even been able to admit to himself that he'd felt at the time, he was confused, and he was impatient for facts. Still, he waited for Jack to explain, and he had to admit that the coffee was very good.

"Jessica didn't tell me you were in Cardiff," Jack started finally, sounding apologetic. "If I'd known, I could have probably kept tonight from happening."

"And what has happened tonight, Jack? What is this place? I thought you were British Special Ops or something?"

"Welcome to Torchwood Three, Harvey." Jack stood and walked to lean on the side of the desk. "The Torchwood Institute was under the Crown originally, but now we are outside the government, beyond the police. Our job is to track down alien life on Earth and arm the human race against the future." Jack crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Harvey's reaction.

"Alien life?" Harvey asked. Jack nodded. "And what does this alien life look like?"

"Well, that depends, but some of it looks like the woman who was about to prey on you in that alley not very long ago."

Harvey thought for a second. It was ridiculous--insane really--but not the worst explanation he could think of for how he ended up so out of control in a situation that he couldn't even remember how he'd gotten into in the first place.

"She was an alien?" Harvey finished his coffee and left the cup on the desk. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Jack. He knew that Jack standing above him was a tactic, one Harvey often employed himself, intended to give Jack an air of authority, but Harvey wasn't having it. To some extent, Jack was his client and he certainly was bound to explain whatever insanity was going here. "And you work 'outside the government'? Freelance alien hunting?"

"Something like that," Jack agreed. "There are more things in the world than you would believe and I could make you believe much of it. This isn't even the first alien life you've met in Cardiff."

"I've only been here two days. You're saying Cardiff is so full of alien life that I'm shaking hands with it everywhere?"

"No, well, actually maybe. I'm not sure about this time. But you had an encounter the last time you were in Cardiff."

Harvey stiffened. Despite the coffee he was exhausted and tired of surprises. "How did you know I was in Cardiff before?"

"We’ve met before."

"Yes, but I don't remember telling you about my internship here, or even very much of my history either of those times."

"No, we've met more times than you could guess, Harvey. I pulled you out of an alley when a weevil was going to make you his dinner in July of 1997…"

"A weevil?" Harvey interrupted but Jack merely nodded and continued.

"Saved your life. A few years before that I pulled you out of alley in New York when you were being rather badly beaten. That's how we first met, actually. There have been other times, but they didn't involve aliens." Jack stopped, giving Harvey to think.

"So you're my serial hero? How come I don't remember any of it, Jack? Some alien trick to make me forget?"

"No, not alien, just human chemistry, but a trick to forget, yes. The need to keep our work secret means that sometimes we have to take people's memories from them."

"What you're telling me is that I have encountered aliens, several times before, and you have rescued me and erased my memories of it?"

"Yes. Something like that, anyway." His face was full of guilt, a look Harvey knew well on anyone. Jack turned from Harvey's eyes and walked over to mess with something on the counter behind him.

"What else aren't you telling me, Jack? Does Jessica know about this? What gives you the right to take memories from people?"

Jack turned back around, his face sad, resigned. "I did what I thought was best, Harvey. What I thought was best for you."

"Does Jessica know?" Harvey repeated as he stood up and advanced on Jack. "Tell me. What kind of work does she do for you exactly? How involved in this madness is she?"

They were close, eighteen inches of air separating them. Harvey felt his anger building, the events of the night twisting all the previous fear and confusion into straight rage. He could feel Jack's tension, whether in response to Harvey's anger or something else. Emotions hummed through the air between them as the silence stretched.

"What else, Jack?"

Jack's eyes moved over Harvey's face and, suddenly, this close, Harvey felt surge of arousal under his anger. The wrongness of it turned his stomach. He had always felt an attraction for Jack when they'd met. How could he not--Jack was very handsome man--but here, in the midst of all this, it seemed wrong, underhanded, like something Jack was doing to him. Something else Jack had done to him. That he couldn't even control his body's response to Jack sent another surge of fury through Harvey. He felt his fists tighten and his teeth clench as he pushed back the arousal stirring inside him.

"I'm sorry," Jack said. "I never wanted this, Harvey. You were never supposed to find out." The depth of the sadness and regret in Jack's face tripped something deep inside Harvey and he felt himself let go a little, and he took a step back.

"Just tell me, please. If it affects my life, my work, I need to know. I _deserve_ to know."

Jack nodded and walked back to his chair. He sat, giving Harvey the standing position of power and looked up, his blue eyes repentant and beseeching. For a second Harvey felt totally disoriented. He'd never seen Jack look like this but he…remembered?... so many other instances of Jack's face, like a sudden flood of dreams coming back into daylight where they didn't belong. Jack above him, Jack's smile, a private smile just for Harvey; Jack's tenderness, Jack's recklessness, Jack's seduction. Harvey stepped back, suddenly dizzy, and caught himself against the desk.

"Tell me what's going on, Jack," Harvey repeated, feeling less sure, less solid, than he had just a second ago. Jack just watched him, his eyes sparkling as tears pooled in their corners. Another look Harvey had never seen on Jack's face, but why did he remember Jack's face so well?

"Come on, let's get you sitting down." Jack stood up and looped his arm under Harvey's around his chest. He led him to the back wall of the office and shoved a pile of papers and boxes off a couch half buried there.

Harvey sagged against him, suddenly boneless, feeling drugged and strange, his brain filling up with Jack's face, Jack's touch, Jack's kiss. He saw himself, young, in Jessica's office with Jack, eating breakfast with Jack, so long ago; Jack on cold winter streets, Jack in beds Harvey couldn't place, Jack in Harvey's arms; Jack in New York, Jack in London, Jack in an older Cardiff; Jack at dinner, Jack in the shower, Jack laughing with Harvey.

"I remember. I remember, Jack. I remember you," Harvey said as Jack steadied him and laid him on the couch, kneeling next to him and carding his fingers through Harvey's hair.

"I’m sorry," Jack said again.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Harvey said, and promptly passed out.

Harvey's mouth felt cottony when he woke up. The sun hit him right in the face as he groaned and rolled over. Clearly, the pub last night had been more enjoyable than Harvey could remember.

He sat up. He remembered, hmm, Cardiff, going to the pub with his clients, and being drunk enough to kiss a girl whose name he didn't know in an alley? Maybe? Or had he dreamt that? He stumbled to the bathroom to relieve himself. He'd certainly drank way too much anyway. He needed to shower and shake it off. There was deal to be closed today and he had to be on top of his game.

***

Jack could justify this because the rules didn't apply to him. They hadn't for a long time. He'd lived way too long to believe anymore that he needed to be constrained by the immediate mores of the day. Everything changed. Everything but Jack, and that gave him the strength to be right even when it was hard.

It hadn't been hard to find Harvey. He was right at the pub where Jack knew he'd be. It was a small thing to act surprised at the 'chance' meeting, a tiny thing to flirt and cajole, a slightly larger thing to seduce him once they were outside the pub. But Harvey wasn't just willing, he was actively interested in Jack, as he always had been, the scent of Jack's pheromones burned deep into Harvey's cerebral cortex. Jack didn't even have to take credit for getting them back to Harvey's hotel room, for getting them naked; it was as much Harvey's doing as anything. It was one small thing Jack didn't have to regret.

Harvey sat on the edge of the bed, clad only in his boxer briefs and a t-shirt, finishing a glass of water. "Sorry," he said, setting the empty glass on the nightstand. "Tried a little too hard to keep up with the Welsh drinkers last night. Still trying to hydrate."

"What about tonight?" Jack asked, dropping his trousers and standing naked next to Harvey. Harvey looked up, his eyes trailing appreciatively over all of Jack.

"I'm not drunk, if that's what you're getting at. I know exactly what I'm doing, and with whom. Even if you are a client and Jessica should never find out about this." Harvey grinned. "Look at you...I'm not one to deny myself when opportunity knocks, and a chance meeting in a dark pub with a man I have wanted for a long time is an opportunity if I ever saw one." He reached a hand out, urging Jack to move closer so he could touch him.

Jack stepped forward into Harvey's touch, looking down into his eyes to see a sparkling hint of humor, a friendly openness and a lot of lust. All of the previous night's anger was gone as if it had been erased. And so it had, Jack had done it himself. He closed his eyes as Harvey's hands traveled over Jack's hips, his stomach, his chest. He knew he'd done the right thing; he'd had to make the hard choices for both of them. This was what Harvey deserved--the good parts. Jack would keep the bad at bay for as long as he could, for Harvey, for the rest of the world, but especially for Harvey. In his righteousness Jack let go of his guilt, relaxing into Harvey's hands, into the moment; it was all there was for him anyway, just the moments, nothing else to look forward to.

Harvey's hands were becoming more insistent, gripping and pressing more than stroking, and Jack needed more contact too.

"Shirt off and on your stomach," Jack growled, stepping back from Harvey's reach.

"Oh, we're moving awfully fast, I see." Harvey smirked and pulled his shirt off over his head.

"Just trust me," Jack said and Harvey nodded upwards once, his half smile still part smirk as he rolled over and stretched down the center of the bed.

"Let's just get everything out of the way." Jack hooked his fingers in the waistband of Harvey's underwear pulled them down as Harvey raised his hips to help. Then he crawled onto the bed, straddling the tops of Harvey's thighs, letting his hardening cock and balls rest in the crack of Harvey's ass as he reached for his shoulders.

Jack dug hard into the muscle of Harvey's shoulders, working across his neck and digging his thumbs in along Harvey's spine.

"Oh, fuck," Harvey cried out, "if I'd known you were going to be this good to me, I wouldn't have second-guessed myself the first time we met."

"You wanted me since you first saw me." Jack didn't ask it as a question. He remembered, even if Harvey didn't.

"Just keep doing that," Harvey answered, "and I will repay you well."

Jack massaged as deeply as he could around Harvey's shoulder blades and into his lower back, keenly aware of the heat of Harvey's ass as his cock shifted and moved over it while he worked. Harvey sighed and squirmed perfectly under Jack's hands until just skin contact wasn't enough.

"Other side," Jack said, raising up on his knees so Harvey could move, and tapping Harvey's hip to make him move.

"Mmm, what happens on the other side?" Harvey asked. He turned over and stretched again before Jack settled in, straddling him, their hard dicks pressed together between them as Jack leaned down to kiss Harvey. Jack brought his hands up to cup Harvey's face, deepening the kiss, and Harvey gripped Jack's hips, pulling them together, grinding up for more contact.

"Yes, I wanted you since I first saw you," Harvey said into Jack's mouth, "Wanted your hands on me."

"Was it worth the wait?"

"Why don't you suck my cock, then I'll decide," Harvey said, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile as he brought his hand up to the top of Jack's head and pushed a little, not quite forcing Jack down, but making his intention very clear.

Harvey kept his hand in Jack's hair as Jack worked his way down Harvey's chest, licking over his nipples until they pebbled, kissing and biting across the firm plane of Harvey's stomach until he was level with Harvey's erection.

Jack kneeled up on the bed to get a better angle. He leaned down, licking over Harvey's balls and sucking them into his mouth. Jack used his hands to pin Harvey's hips to the bed as he worked his mouth wetly up Harvey's shaft, nipping with his lips and kissing as he went. He paused to look up. Harvey was looking down at him, gaze intense, neck bent to get the best view. Intent not on putting on a show but proving how good he could be, Jack leaned back down and swallowed the whole length of Harvey's cock, his nose buried for a second in the soft curls at its base, before he pulled back and immediately started working back and forth, sucking harder when Harvey cried out at the immediacy of it all.

Harvey's fingers tightened in Jack's hair, slowing his pace to where he wanted it and Jack let him take control. Jack's hands rubbed and caressed over Harvey's thighs as he slowed and pulled back, licking and teasing at the head of Harvey's dick. He worked his mouth over it again, back down to Harvey's balls and up again, spreading Harvey's thighs more and pressing down as he sucked Harvey's length back in to his mouth. Nothing else existed in the world as they both reveled in Harvey's pleasure, Jack giving and Harvey mumbling out a slow stream of guttural curses and prayers.

"Stop," Harvey finally said. "I don't want to come like this. I want to fuck you." He used his grip in Jack's hair to pull his head back until Jack released Harvey's cock and their eyes met. Jack just nodded and sat back, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth remembering Harvey doing the same the first time they'd met. Harvey's eyes traced the movement and his tongue darted across his lips as he struggled to sit up.

It didn't take Harvey long to find condoms and lube in the dresser and he was back on the bed, kissing Jack. Jack leaned back, letting Harvey's hands explore him as they kissed long and slow before Harvey tugged and turned Jack on to his stomach.

Harvey's fingers, slick and warm, pressed gently into Jack's ass, while Harvey whispered above him. "Fuck you look so good, Jack, want you, want you so much, god you make me hard, fuck, want to see you, want to see your face when I’m inside you." When Harvey had pushed, prepped and fucked Jack well enough with his fingers, Jack unquestioningly rolled over and spread legs for Harvey.

Jack told himself that in all the partners he'd had, all the things he'd ever had, that topping and bottoming had become meaningless; sex was sex, however you got off. But this was different, even if Harvey didn't know. He was finally letting Harvey take him; giving himself up meant something and Jack cried out from the release of knowing that when Harvey entered him the first time.

Jack let his head drop back over the edge of the bed as Harvey fucked him harder. He could see the spread of the nighttime lights of Cardiff through the window, upside down and shaking in time with Harvey's thrusts. Everything turned around, spun. Jack closed his eyes and let everything fall away but the feeling of Harvey inside him, the rhythm of Harvey's strokes.

Harvey's hands grabbed Jack's hips and pulled him down until they were more firmly in the center of the bed. "Look at me." Harvey's voice was scratchy with lust and the edge of his own impending orgasm. "Touch yourself, Jack. I want to see you come while I'm inside you."

Jack moaned involuntarily as he locked eyes with Harvey. He licked over his own palm and wrapped it around his very hard cock.

"Jesus, Jack." Harvey's fingers were going to leave marks on his hips, Jack thought as Harvey pounded harder into him. "Fuck, you look amazing, oh, fuck, come, Jack, come on, come for me."

The stream of dirty invitations rolled over Jack as he squeezed his dick harder, jerking it steadily to match Harvey's speed and letting himself be pulled past the edge. Coming was like falling off a cliff into freedom. White lines crossed over Jack's vision and he felt his eyes roll back, his orgasm pulling at every corner of his being as his hot come spilled over his fist and on to his stomach.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, the way you look. Jack, Jack, fuck, I'm coming, coming, fucking coming in you, Jack, fuck." Harvey cried out above him, driving into Jack, his head falling down to Jack's shoulder as his body spasmed, three, four times and then Harvey slowed and lowered himself the rest of the way down on to Jack, lifting to kiss him once, softly. "Thank you," he whispered, before carefully pulling out and stumbling up from the bed, toward the bathroom.

Feeling incredibly clumsy himself, Jack got up and rummaged in his trouser pocket, taking the Retcon he found there and dropping into Harvey's water glass, filling it with a bottle of water from the minibar and watching as it quickly dissolved. When Harvey exited the bathroom, Jack was finishing the bottle of water himself.

"Here," Jack said, handing the glass to Harvey, "Surely you need to hydrate after that." Jack's steely resolve crumbled a little at Harvey's grin. A grin so genuine that Jack wanted Harvey to remember this night, remember how good they'd felt together. But it was already too late as Harvey downed the contents of the glass.

***

 _"You have one new voicemail, from Jessica Pearson, left Monday at 4:36 am. To listen to your message press one."_

 _"Jack, did you see him in Cardiff? He didn’t mention you, but I can't assume that means you didn't see him. Please tell me if there's anything I need to know. I wish this was different. I wish we'd done all of this differently. It makes me feel like I can't trust you and I need to trust you. I need to trust you, Jack, for both our sakes. Please call me back. Don't make me sit here and imagine the worst."_

***

 **Summer 2009**

"Oh, there are only a few seats, you'll have to share, of course," the waiter said, his accent making him sound extra haughty as he led Harvey across the restaurant to a small table already occupied by one man. The man stood when they approached.

"Jack," Harvey exclaimed, recognizing him instantly. "It's been a while! Good to see you again." Harvey reached out to shake Jack's hand.

"Oh, good, you are both American," the waiter said snottily and walked away before Jack could answer.

"Harvey Specter, I wouldn't have expected to see you here." They shook hands for maybe a moment too long, Harvey felt, before Jack gestured to the other seat.

"What a strange coincidence," Jack said. "What brings you to Brussels? Are you on a case?"

"Yes, always work, even in the most exotic of locations. Jessica still represents you, doesn't she? I'm surprised our paths haven't crossed before now."

"She does represent me, I suppose. Though I don't need a lot of representing--she mostly manages trusts and some other legal matters for my team. It's complicated."

"Right. Tell me again what you do. Something for the British government, I think?"

"It _is_ a government agency," Jack agreed.

"But you can't tell me what? Like MI-5 or some sort of James Bond thing?" Harvey teased. He couldn't help it, Jack seemed to be trying to be very mysterious, but Harvey's tactic worked and Jack laughed.

" _'I travel, a sort of licensed trouble shooter._ Harkness, Jack, Harkness," he said with the worst Sean Connery accent. " _'I think that's enough, Goldfinger, you've made your point.'_ "

" _'Choose your next witticism wisely, Mr. Bond, it may be your last.'_ " Harvey wasn't sure his Dr. No impression was any better than Jack's Connery.

" _'Do you expect me to talk?'_ " Jack laughed and broke character, as much as he'd ever had it. "I see you're a movie fan."

"Among other things," Harvey answered, picking up his menu to cover his pleasure at finding such a pleasing companion on what had been a routine and somewhat boring trip.

"What are you drinking?" Jack asked. "Since we're in Belgium you should have…"

" _Tripel Karmeliet_ ," Harvey finished for him.

"Yes," grinned Jack, "at least for starters."

The waiter returned eventually for their food and drink orders. Jack proved once again to be a very amusing dinner companion. Of course this time he hadn't just come out of a an NYPD holding cell on the heels of massive terror in New York, and he wasn't waiting around to sign some rather depressing will and testament documents while Jessica was gone, so if he seemed even more pleasant now, he had reason, Harvey thought. He was a very attractive man and Harvey was a little surprised at how forward and flirty Jack seemed throughout the meal. As they settled into their fourth beers, a strong _dubbel_ brewed by nearby monks, Harvey made a decision that Jessica certainly wouldn't approve of--after all, Jack was a client. But not _his_ client, and here they were, by chance, in the same restaurant in Brussels, with a whole evening ahead of them. And Jack was a very, very handsome man.

"So," Harvey asked, "if you can't tell me about your job, how about your life. Are you married? Kids?"

"No wife. No girlfriend. No partner."

"That's great."

"Great?"

"Yes. Over the years I've learned to really appreciate quality. The finer things in life, if you will. And you, Jack Harkness, are a very fine thing."

"Counselor, are you flirting with me?"

"No, not at all. Flirting would indicate only that I am trying to charm you. No, I'm not flirting, I'm hitting on you. See, that indicates that I want to show you the finer parts of my lavish hotel room after we finish here."

As they left the restaurant Harvey steered them off the _Rue de Namur_ , down a private and surprisingly clean alley he'd cut through on his way back the day before. They were, quite suddenly, out of the bustle of the city and completely alone.

Jack looked around them. " _'Thank you very much. I was just out walking my rat and I seem to have lost my way,'_ " he said in his terrible Connery accent again.

Harvey laughed, "More Bond, huh? You'd better not tell me you smell like a tart's handkerchief."

"Diamonds _are_ forever," Jack began, but Harvey kissed him before he could take it any further. Backing Jack up to the wall, Harvey was gratified when Jack's hands came up to cup his jaw and Jack deepened the kiss, pushing his hips against Harvey's.

Harvey pushed back, rolling his hips and grinding hard against Jack. Jack moaned and let one hand fall to Harvey's neck, while the other traveled inside his jacket and reached to tug Harvey's shirttails out until his hand found bare skin. The heat of Jack's hand was like a catalyst, goading Harvey forward. He twisted his hips as he rubbed, pleased to find that Jack was already hard. He had obviously been thinking about this since before they left the restaurant. Harvey liked to be wanted, especially by someone he wanted equally as badly.

"This is a bad idea," Jack said, breaking the kiss, but not pulling away. He slid his hands down to Harvey's hips, keeping their bodies pressed together.

"It seems like a very good idea so far," Harvey answered. "What could be bad?"

"Jessica's a close friend."

"And my boss," Harvey answered. "Luckily I generally don't talk to her about who I fuck, so we should be fine." Harvey tried to take back control with another kiss, sliding his tongue over Jack's, tracing the ivory edges of his teeth, biting gently and tugging at Jack's lower lip until Jack tipped his head back to expose the column of his throat. Harvey kissed his way down and bit lightly at the side of Jack's neck. "If you want me to stop, it's not too late to say something," he growled in Jack's ear.

They were nearly the same height and the angle was perfect as Harvey pressed his erection against Jack's and kissed him again before Jack could make any more protests. Both of Jack's hands were under Harvey's shirt now, exploring his skin, rubbing, fingers digging into his muscles. Harvey reached between them and neatly undid Jack's trousers, slid his hand inside, wrapping it around his cock and pushing down in one easy motion.

Jack cried out into Harvey's mouth at the sensation and Harvey leaned his head down, mouth at Jack's ear as he stroked. "Do you want me to stop, Jack?"

"You don't play fair."

"No, I always play hard ball. I always close the deal. It's what I do. And what I want to do right now is make you come." He brought his hand up to his mouth and licked wetly the length of his palm and fingers before grasping Jack's cock again, increasing pressure and speed on his strokes. "Do you want to come for me, Jack? Come in my hand while I tell you how much I want you?"

"Tell me," Jack scratched out, his voice rough with desire.

"I've wanted you since I first saw you in that cell, eight years ago. I wanted you all through dinner that night, but I couldn't find a way to get us both out from under Jessica's eyes. And you're right, then it didn't seem like a good idea. I took you to lunch when Jessica was out of town to try to get your attention, but you seemed too busy, too intent on work and maybe I wasn't sure yet just how much I wanted you, so I didn't push it. But here we are, accidentally in the same place at the same time, and now I can act on all the things I wished I'd done those other times." Harvey rubbed harder on Jack's cock, squeezing and trying to keep his rhythm one step ahead of how fast Jack was breathing now, pulling him toward the edge. "Now I can kiss you, touch you, find out what's under all those clothes before I finally fuck you." Harvey's kiss was more desperate than he intended and Jack was already coming as he started it. His hips bucked hard against Harvey and he whimpered and shuddered. Harvey slowed his pace but didn't let go of Jack's dick until he sagged against Harvey, clearly spent.

Harvey wiped his hand on his own shirttail before tucking it back into his pants. "Fortunately, even in the middle of summer you have enough coat to cover you until we can get you out of those pants," he said to Jack.

"Hey, this coat looks great on me."

"It really does, but I'm hoping you'll look even better out of all of it. Let's find out." Harvey hurried them along the last two blocks to his hotel.

***

Harvey lay face down, his head half under a pillow as if he could somehow hide from the impending day. It was ridiculously cute, though Jack was fairly certain that Harvey didn't want to know that. Aware that he couldn't stay here and watch Harvey sleep forever, Jack broke the spell by leaning in and kissing down Harvey's neck, pushing the blankets down and moving down his spine. Harvey groaned lightly and rolled his hips. Jack let his hand trail down to cup Harvey's buttocks.

"Sleeping," Harvey mumbled into the pillow.

"Not a morning person, are you?" Jack asked, moving back up, kissing across a shoulder blade, over the arch of Harvey's shoulder, to his jaw. Harvey rolled over and scooted into Jack.

"Not a morning person," Harvey groggily agreed kissing Jack's chest and letting his hands run down Jack's side, coming to rest on his hip. "But this is nice to wake up to."

Minutes stretched past and Harvey seemed to doze again for a bit, waking occasionally to run his hands over Jack again as if making sure he was still there, feeling the reality of him. Finally, without word, Harvey got up and went into the bathroom and started the shower. Jack considered joining him but decided that Harvey probably really wasn't a morning person and let him have his time. When Harvey emerged from the bathroom he seemed wide awake, dressed in soft grey lounge pants and a t-shirt, his hair damp. He was the picture of relaxed masculinity. Jack wanted to throw him on the bed and do unspeakable things to him.

"Good morning," Harvey said, coming over to kiss the top of Jack's head.

"Big day?" Jack asked, wondering if this was all of Harvey he would have, if any amount of time with him would ever be enough.

"No, I closed the deal I came here for yesterday. I have to go for a formal goodbye meeting late this morning, but otherwise this is supposed to be a day off. You?"

"I don't know yet," Jack answered truthfully. He never really knew what a day was going to bring any more, but he was glad to make all the time he had in Brussels revolve around Harvey if he could.

"Stay for breakfast? Room service here is excellent."

Jack agreed and went to shower himself. When he returned, Harvey was standing at the window, looking out over the _Palais du Roi_ , the gardens surrounding it, and the tall modern buildings behind it. He turned to look at Jack and his smile was an invitation to write overblown, indulgent, metaphorical poetry about sunlight and joy, but Jack refrained.

"I asked them to send breakfast to the garden."

"Ah, shall we go down now?"

"Up, actually." Harvey's smile increased by a factor of ten suns. "I told you this was a lavish hotel room. There's a private rooftop garden with it."

Breakfast turned out to be a perfect continental European spread of half a dozen different breads and an equal number of meats, cheeses and jams probably made by the same monks who'd brewed the beer they'd had to drink the previous evening. Boiled eggs, espresso, juice. All in the middle of a small lawn surround by a well-manicured garden full of pink and purple blooms, the twitter of birds and the hum of insects noticeable even over the city noise. It was paradise. There were several English-language newspapers and Harvey seemed in no hurry. Jack sat back and slowly enjoyed every bit of it: the food, the surrounding oasis, the way Harvey's brow furrowed at the news, the intensity with which he read aloud the parts of the news that seemed to offend him or please him.

"Come lie in the grass with me, Harvey," Jack requested after they'd demolished anything edible on the table and sat in companionable silence, both with newspapers--Harvey reading his, Jack just holding his while watching Harvey.

Harvey looked over the top of his newspaper, his expression both amused and puzzled. "In the grass."

"Yes, what's the point of having an extravagant rooftop garden if you don't take advantage of it by doing things you'd otherwise never do?"

Jack got up and crossed to the small lawn, where he settled himself on his back, with his hands folded behind his head. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He heard the faint rattle of cutlery on porcelain as if the table was bumped and then the crinkle of paper and then a shadow was blocking the sun above him. He opened his eyes to see Harvey standing over him smiling.

"You look comfortable," Harvey said, his gaze making a warm ball of lust form low in Jack's belly.

"C'mere," Jack replied, closing his eyes again.

The shadow moved and then he felt the press of Harvey's body against his. Harvey settled in, stretched along Jack's right side, his head on Jack's chest. Jack took another deep breath and tried not to think of anything but Harvey and sunshine and green grass.

It had been a very long time since Jack had had time, space or inclination to enjoy a small piece of the Earth such as this. He shifted his arm to wrap it around Harvey and pull him in closer. The sound of the city waking up below was mostly white noise up in this private garden. Jack drifted, not awake, not asleep, only just there, until Harvey's voice pulled him back.

"I dreamt about you last night, Jack," Harvey murmured into his chest so Jack felt the words as well as heard them.

"That wasn't a dream. We actually did that. I can show you again if you need a refresher," Jack said into Harvey's hair. He felt Harvey's laugh against him, though Harvey went on as if Jack hadn't spoken.

"It was long strange dream, as if I'd known you forever, seen you in every place I'd been, touched you in ways I haven't yet even imagined."

Jack stroked Harvey's hair and they both drifted again. Jack feigned politeness; after all, it was good manners to let your lover speak their dreams without questioning. Jack did wonder how much was resurfaced memory, and worried that those memories wouldn't stay buried as they should. But he let the sun shine on all his fears so they could be cast to the dark places where they belonged. This time was only for now, for this Harvey and not anything of the past. Jack wasn't going fuck it up this time by trying to make more out of what they had than there was. Just this moment would be enough, even if nothing came after.

A long time passed before Harvey's phone beeped from the table and they both struggled up, back to the day, back to the world.

"I should get ready for my meeting," Harvey said, grabbing Jack by the hips and pulling them together. "But you should meet me later if you can?" Harvey pressed their mouths together and gave a kiss full of promise and an invitation for things to come later.

"Yes," Jack answered, "I'll meet you where ever you like."

***

The afternoon light made the cathedral windows seem like miracle, something that could not possibly have been designed and created by human hands.

" _Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal_ ," Harvey said, " _Goedele_. Goooodelay." Jack laughed at Harvey's Dutch. Harvey knew he was being silly, but he felt so light and happy here this afternoon. It had been a long time since he'd spent time with someone he felt so at ease with. And he'd heard Jack's terrible jokes and awful Bond accent--Jack surely wasn't going to judge him for indulging his own humor.

"I like Dutch. It sounds like German spoken underwater by crazy people, but everyone you meet speaking it seems so serious and straight-laced. Still, it seems like underneath it's all an elaborate joke just to get you to say their Dutch words so they can laugh at you for trying. _Ik wil weer kussen. Kussen. Weer._ "

"Then kiss me," Jack answered. They were in the baptistry, hidden from the eyes of the very few tourists visiting on a Thursday afternoon.

"Mmm, very sinful," Harvey said, leaning in to press his mouth to Jack's, his hands cupping Jack's jaw and pulling them together. Harvey pulled back and looked around to make sure they were alone. "You know, Jack," he said, putting his hand on Jack's chest and starting to push him back behind a large pillar, "I'd like to make this a trip you'll never forget."

"You're doing a very god job, so far," Jack said into Harvey's mouth.

***

"How was Brussels, Harvey?" Jessica asked as Harvey settled into the chair across her desk. He looked very pleased with himself. With anyone else Jessica would assume that meant the deal went well, but since Harvey usually looked like that she had to ask to know for sure.

"Went off without a hitch, Jessica. You know me. I closed the deal."

"That's why I keep you around."

"The Belgians were kind of a humorless bunch, but we pushed through. I think I got a better deal for our client in the end, but everyone seemed happy. The actual deal is signed, but there are some new agreed-upon stipulations that I'll have to work to get into the contracts today so we can send them right over."

"Do you want Louis' help on this, Harvey? He does financial deals very well."

"I don't want Louis on anything, ever, if I have a say in it."

"You're going to have to learn to work with him, Harvey." Jessica wondered briefly when it seemed that she had become not only a top lawyer, but a mom to a bunch of bratty boys. She'd never admit how much she liked it, because, frankly, they'd hold it over her and she really did find them all tedious at times. "I'm glad it went so smoothly. Let me know if you want help structuring the final deal." Harvey nodded that he would. "Anything else?"

Harvey stood up, as if to leave, but pause for a second. "I saw your friend Jack while I was there. In Brussels."

Jessica fought to keep her face neutral. This wasn't a conversation she'd ever expected to have, despite having rehearsed her excuses for the situation a million times.

"Oh, and how is Jack?"

"Very good," Harvey said, looking smugger than usual, "Very, very good."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, and what exactly did you and Jack do? He is a client after all."

"Your client, not mine," Harvey smiled again. "We just had dinner, went sightseeing." Harvey turned to go, clearly satisfied with the effect his revelation had had.

"You went sightseeing with Jack Harkness?" Jessica let her puzzlement show. No matter what else had happened, clearly Jack had done something right.

"They were some amazing sights," Harvey said as he left the office. He gave a brilliant smile and disappeared around the corner.

Jessica leaned forward and pressed a button on her phone. "Kathleen, get me Jack Harkness on the phone. If he doesn't answer, keep trying." She clicked off and leaned back, rotating her chair so she could look out over her city.

***

 _\----- Original Message -----  
From: jack1381@yahoo.com  
To: jessica.pearson@PH-Law.com  
Sent: Saturday, Aug 29, 2009 4:17 am  
Subject: missed you_

 _I'm sorry I missed your calls. It's been unbelievable here. And I mean that truthfully--even if I told you what I have been up against, you wouldn't believe me._

 _I assume you are calling because Harvey said something to you about Brussels? I don't know what to tell you, maybe I am becoming more sentimental in my old age. Or more superstitious. Sometimes the universe gives you signs and you have act on them and hope it's the right action._

 _It was truly a chance meeting and we each had the day to spend together, so we did. It was too good of a day to forget, too good of a day to take away. Harvey and I agreed when we parted that it was passing, a vacation romance. My life is too dangerous to share with him and I don't think he'd want anyone who couldn't give him every part of themselves. That person isn't ever going to be me. Harvey isn't meant for me anyway, I need to find someone in my own world._

 _I don't know what happens now, but I would appreciate it if you would continue to honor our agreement. Harvey only knows me as an acquaintance he met by chance on a business trip. That part should stay that way. I know you feel differently, Jessica, but trust when I say I know it's for the best that my involvement in his change in circumstances is never revealed._

 _Hopefully I'll see you soon and under good circumstances. You would have loved Brussels, although perhaps it was best you weren't there._

 _All my love,  
Jack_

***

 **Summer 2011**

"Oh Jack, look at you, always the same." Jessica pulled him to her and kissed his cheeks and then pushed him back to look at him again. "You look a little careworn though," she said too low for anyone else to hear. "Are you taking care of yourself, too, and not just everyone else?"

"I'm doing the best I can. You look beautiful, Jessica. You haven't aged a day since I met you." Jessica's laughter was as pleasing as Jack remembered it.

"They are waiting in the conference room, come on."

 _They?_ thought Jack.

"Jack, you remember Harvey Specter?" Jack shot Jessica a look that he hoped no one else had caught.

"Jack, good to see you again!" Harvey advanced, his hand out. "You look great."

"Thanks, so do you, Harvey. Nice to see you again."

Harvey straightened his cuffs, preening a little. He looked really good. "Jack, this is my associate, Mike Ross. He's going to be helping set up your Trust. I think you'll find that he's very helpful."

Mike looked pleased at the praise and shook Jack's hand.

At the end of two hours, Jack couldn't remember any of the details of the meeting for setting up a trust to take care of his team and or their families in the face of a bunch of disasters. He could only remember how Mike hovered at Harvey's elbow, how Harvey had looked at Mike, and how Jessica had so clearly pretended she didn't notice, all the while checking to see if Jack noticed. Once he was alone on the street outside, Jack made a call.

"Toshiko, hi, no, everything's fine. New York in autumn, yes, lovely. Look can you do a background check on someone for me? Yes, Torchwood standard, in depth. Mike Ross. He's an associate with a law firm in New York called Pearson Hardman. Yes, please, just email it to me when you have it. Yes, thanks, yes, I'll see you soon. Another day, maybe two."

If Jack had intended to dig up dirt on Mike he'd hit the mother lode. Ross wasn't even a lawyer, hadn't even finished college. As far as Jack could tell, Harvey had picked him up off the street, from the shadowy fringes of drug deals and maybe something else, and had just placed him as an associate at Pearson Hardman. There were some faked files at Harvard, but not really enough if someone went looking in depth.

When Jack arrived that evening the office seemed quiet except for the bullpen full of young associates, working late, that he could see far down the hall. He wound around a little before finding Harvey's office. Through the glass he could see Harvey at his desk, leaning over a stack of papers, and Mike on the couch with a pile of papers on his lap. It looked warmer in there, cozy somehow from the lamps, almost domestic. Jack knocked lightly and let himself in. Jimmy Reed was singing "You Don't Have to Go" on the turntable in the corner. The walls were covered in shelves of old vinyl records.

"Jack!" Harvey stood, smiling and strode to meet him, hand out. "You remember my associate, Mike Ross?" Mike looked up with a half smile and sort of saluted. Jack nodded in return as he shook Harvey's hand. "Sorry, we were just finishing up some loose ends on another case. Can I get you something to drink? I have the documents for you to look over right here."

Jack looked around and saw there was a glass on Harvey's desk and one at Mike's elbow. "Sure, scotch?"

"Yes, definitely." Harvey grinned and went to sideboard between shelves of records.

" _Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall_? I can't believe you have this. Do you mind if I look?" Jack asked gesturing to shelves as the album played on.

"Not at all." Harvey looked pleased by his interest.

"I was in Detroit in," Jack stopped himself, _in what? The 60s_? He had to remember where he was. "Well, for business for a while, and I got interested in the music. There wasn't much else to do in Detroit."

"Is there even anything left in Detroit?" Mike asked. "Isn't it, like, overrun with wild animals and all growing back to nature, with the forests overtaking the city?"

Harvey sighed, rather indulgently, Jack thought. "He's young and watches too much TV." Harvey directed the last part directly to Mike, who scowled in return, sipped from his glass, and pointedly went back to looking at the papers in his lap.

Jack went through the stack of wills and trust documents that had been drawn up for his team at Torchwood. He supposed they would resent the steps he'd taken on their behalf, but the work needed to go on in his absence if it could, and everyone needed taking care of. Jack sighed and leaned his head back. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.

"Wills and Trust documents can be depressing," Harvey said, seeming to suddenly realize the intimacy of his touch and pulling his hand back. Jack could feel Mike's eyes on both of them. "It's hard to be responsible for not only your employees, but their families, as well." Jack nodded. "If you think we don't need any changes, Mike has copies ready for you to sign.”

They made it through hundreds of sheets of paper, Jack signing when told, Harvey moving around the room, and Mike fluttering around him, always ready, always there, eager, hopeful for Harvey's attention.

***

"Mike?" Mike looked up to see Jack Harkness standing over his cubicle. He stood up and extended his hand.

"Good morning, Mr. Harkness, how can I help you? I think Harvey's with a client right now, but we can..."

"Please, call me Jack. I just wanted to thank you for all your help with my project. I know it wasn't easy. Do you have time for a cup of coffee?"

"Uh..." Mike looked towards Jessica's office and found her watching them. She nodded slightly and smiled. "Sure, yeah. Harvey won't be back for a bit and I can finish this later.”

Mike knew he was chattering nervously in the elevator and as they crossed the street. Mr. Harkness, Jack, was very, very handsome and had sort of an authority about him that Mike found both comforting and alarming. And he wasn't entirely comfortable with the way he'd noticed Jack looking at Harvey yesterday and at dinner the night before.

They got coffee and sat in a quiet, remote corner. Jack leaned in, cornering Mike, blocking his escape. Oh, why was Mike thinking about escape? He was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that something was happening here, the way he had when he'd noticed the cops outside that hotel room last year.

"Mike Ross," Jack began, looking serious and fairly scary. "You're a smart guy and I know you'll remember this, so I am only going to say any of this one time." Mike nodded and braced himself.

"After today, I want you to forget you ever saw me. I know exactly how hard that will be for you, but I'd prefer if you did it yourself and I didn't have to do it for you. That would complicate things for me."

What the fuck was going on? It seemed like Jack and Harvey had some sort of history, and Harvey had said that Jack did some sort of European government work, like Special Ops or something. Mike knew there were some weird conditions in the documents they'd drawn up, and a lot of key pieces clearly left out, but what had Harvey gotten him involved with? Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Pay attention, Mike." Mike snapped back to the conversation, his eyes on Jack's. It was scary there but too hard to look anywhere else. "I really appreciate your help on this project, though I can't say what Jessica was thinking bringing anyone else in, so I'd like you to forget all of that as well. As an expression of my thanks, I have solved your little problem for you. You will find that an error in the Harvard system has been corrected to reflect your proper status. You should receive a package tomorrow with your transcripts, some other paperwork, and your certificate of admission to the New York State Bar Association. You will find that all these documents are legitimate, and I trust you won't make any more judgmental errors that would require anyone to take such measures as I have." Jack sat back a little, watching Mike.

It was probably just a fleeting panic attack, but for a second Mike could have mistaken it for a heart attack. Jack knew his secret and had, for whatever reason, fixed it for him, through, what? Some secret international organization? Both relief and apprehension flooded Mike, leaving him feeling shaky and not a little spastic.

"I don't, uh, you didn't have to do that. Thank you so much. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything, Mike, that's the point. I didn't do this for you. I did this for Harvey."

"For Harvey? I didn't realize you knew each other much, uh..." Mike knew there had been something in how Jack was looking at Harvey. Whatever had been between them, he couldn't believe that Harvey had played it off so casually. Wow, Harvey must have broken it off. And Jack was so handsome, wow, Mike couldn't stop himself from thinking about the two of them together. He rushed to tamp down his blush.

"Jessica is an old, old friend of mine and I'd do anything for her. She's done a lot over the years to help Harvey get where he is and I don't want that jeopardized for any of you."

"Um, okay." Mike didn't know where to look or what to think. This day was weirder than he'd had in a while.

"As for Harvey, well, I only want what's best for him. And it seems like what's best for him, is you." Jack looked hard at Mike, who saw tears welling in the corners of his eyes. What the fuck was going here? "Yes, you'll have to push him, and maybe force him to see it--he can be really stubborn--but when you're ready to tell him you love him, I think you'll find he loves you, too. History never exactly repeats itself--sometimes it gets it right."

"Oh, no, we aren't, I don't, it's not..." Mike scrambled, so out of his depth he wasn't sure he could come up for air.

"The only repayment I want for my favor is that you love him well, Mike, and don't ever do anything to hurt him, because I will find out about it and I will come back for you."

And Jack was gone in a dramatic swirl of navy blue wool. Mike sat and stared at the two coffee cups on the table in front of him. What had just happened? His record was clear, and somehow he had a new, legitimate past that would keep him where he was. He wouldn't have to worry anymore about being revealed. He'd just had his life threatened by some sort of international government spook. He very definitely felt threatened; this wasn't someone he ever wanted to be on the wrong side of. And he'd had someone tell him he was in love with Harvey. A secret he had been sure he was keeping buried. A secret that maybe Harvey would be receptive to knowing.

In the past year Mike's life had gotten so complicated that he almost didn't recognize himself some days. And here was a whole new level of insanity, but somehow, as he sat there, Mike realized that this was all meant to make his life easier. Even if he did now know that some insane secret Special Ops guy was going to be watching him for the rest of his life in case he fucked up. No pressure there or anything. Mike took a sip of his cold coffee and headed back to Pearson Hardman. There wasn't anything else to do, anywhere else to go, that was his life now. And he was very glad of it, he realized as he walked down the halls past his coworkers to his own space, his own place in the universe, that seemed to maybe be growing, rather than shrinking as it had been just a year before. Harvey had opened amazing doors to him. Mike wanted to be worthy of that gift, and worthy of the gift Jack had just given him.

***

" _You cannot possess him for he belongs to himself. But while you both wish it, give each other that which is yours to give._ "

"That's beautiful, what is it?"

"Mangling of a Celtic handfasting ceremony. Romantic nonsense." Jack smiled at Jessica as he took the glass she offered.

Looking out the high window of Jessica's office, Jack imagined that he could see Mike and Harvey walking away into the night together, into life together.

"You did a good thing." Jack wondered for the thousandth time if Jessica could actually read minds. "It was a good thing for you and a good thing for Harvey. By bringing him to me and by finally letting him remember you, you gave him everything you could."

"And it’s a really good thing for Mike, but it feels like losing. Not," Jack thought for a second, "like losing a battle or a competition, just losing a little part of myself. Sometimes I wonder if I have any more parts to lose."

Jessica had moved silently behind him and twined her arms around his waist. She looked out at the city over his shoulder. Jack could just see her out of the corner of his eye.

"You saved him, Jack. You saved me. You'll go on saving people over and over for I don't know how long. The world needs you, and you have maybe more pieces than all the rest of us. Don't carry everyone's sorrow. Carry our joy. You gave Harvey a life he never would have had."

"You did all the heavy lifting there." Jack closed his hand over Jessica's, squeezing a little.

"And still none of it would have happened with without you. You bring more good to the world than it brings you sorrow. Don't ever forget that." She clutched at him for a second and let go. Jack could hear her moving in the room behind him. "Are you coming?"

" _I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night_ ," Jack whispered to the ghost of Harvey in his memory.

Jessica stood in the doorway, waiting for Jack to join her.

" _'I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'_ "

"Really?" Jessica answered, " _Casablanca_ is what you're going with here?" She linked her arm through Jack's and they started for the elevator.

Jessica's attention in the elevator was unrelenting.

"What?" Jack finally asked.

"You look too happy for everything that just happened here. That makes me suspicious."

"You just told me I did a good thing!"

"And so selflessly, too. What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything, Jessica."

"There's someone else!"

Jack smiled and looked away. He couldn't help himself.

"This is someone you work with, someone you know?" Jessica's voice was serious now.

Jack just nodded.

"Like you told me once before the only way you could find someone right for you was someone who lived inside your world, doing the work you do?"

Jack wondered how long he could get away with just nodding before Jessica made him talk.

"What's his name?"

"Ianto. Ianto Jones."

"Look at you, Jack, you practically glow when you say his name. I never thought I'd see it after all these years."

"Well, he makes a very good cup of coffee and I do like coffee."

Jessica swatted him for whatever sin he'd most recently committed and they both smiled, for their own reasons.

***

 **Epilogue**

"Come on, you want to be early when your day starts with a meeting with Jessica." Harvey came into the kitchen, tying his tie. Mike was just closing the coffee cups into the dishwasher.

"Are you going to be in the meeting too?"

"No, I'm meeting with one of Jessica's clients since she's meeting with you."

"It isn't that Jack guy is it?"

"'That Jack guy'? Really, Mike? Yes, I'm meeting with her client, Jack Harkness."

"She couldn't just reschedule?"

"He lives in Wales. The work needs to be done while he's here. How did you even know he was here?" Harvey stopped and looked closely at Mike.

"I saw you with him in Jessica's office yesterday."

"Okay." Harvey was intent on Mike waiting for more. Eighteen months of working together and three months of, well, increasingly frequent nights in Harvey's bed, and still Harvey could make Mike feel like a kid cornered for lying when he hadn't even said anything yet.

"It's just I wondered why you had to meet him if he's Jessica's client." Mike tried not to visibly squirm.

Harvey went back to buttoning his waistcoat. "Oh, he's been Jessica's client for longer than I've been around, but I've done a little of the work with him in the past. There's a deadline so I'm just stepping in." He sounded so casual and off hand that when he said, "Are you jealous, Mike?" Mike almost choked. He looked up to find himself once again pinned under Harvey's gaze.

Worse yet he couldn't control the flush climbing his neck and up his face.

"What is going on with you?" Harvey asked.

"It's just, I, uh, saw the way he looks at you?"

"Well, who doesn't like looking at me?" Harvey smiled. "Now tell me what's really going on. Did he say something to you?"

Mike faltered, torn between his loyalty to Harvey, his promise to never lie, and his fear of Jack and his promise never to mention their 'discussion.' Of course, with Harvey looking at him like that Jack didn't have a chance.

"He, um, warned me."

"He warned you? About what? The coming apocalypse?"

"No, last time he was here, before we, I mean before you and I, uh, got, you know here, he said if I ever hurt you he'd kill me."

"Really?" Harvey looked delighted. "I guess that weekend in Brussels meant more to him than I'd realized."

"Weekend in Brussels? What weekend in Brussels? When was this?" Mike found himself following Harvey out of the kitchen and back to the bedroom.

"What did I say about not being late today? We should go." Harvey was smiling down at his cuffs as he fastened them and looking really way too amused for Mike's comfort.

"Harvey. Tell me."

"Tell you?" Harvey looked up and Mike found himself backing up. "Tell you what?"

"Um, just, I guess there's a lot I don't know about your past."

Harvey advanced forward and pinned Mike to the wall behind him, his hips pressing lightly against Mike's, his stance a little threatening.

"Are you jealous, Mike?" Harvey's face was right next to Mike's. "Because I thought I showed you last night how much I want you."

"Yeah. Yes, I mean, yes."

"Because I could show you again." Harvey dropped to his knees gracefully and started to undo the fly of Mike's trousers.

"Oh, fuck, Harvey, what are you doing?" But Harvey had already wrapped his mouth around the head of Mike's cock and Mike let go, his head falling back against the wall. Three months of late-night hook-ups and they had been in nearly every position but Harvey had never gotten down on his knees for Mike. Mike looked down to see Harvey looking intently up at him as he worked over Mike's dick. Though Harvey was for once in the subservient position, Mike did not feel at all like Harvey had relinquished any control.

Mike felt like a wild animal conditioned to respond. He wanted to run, wasn't sure what was happening, but he was so fucking hard now, he could already feel the coils of his orgasm loosening in his spine, heat spreading from Harvey's mouth. His breathing was ragged and the fight or flight response seemed to be accelerating everything he was feeling. He wasn't going to last long.

Harvey wrapped his hand around the base of Mike's cock and squeezed hard before matching those strokes with his mouth. He brought his other hand up and slid it under Mike's shirt, splaying it across his stomach and keeping him pinned to the wall. Which was good, because Mike felt like his balance was going, too.

He looked down again at his cock disappearing in to Harvey's mouth and it was too much. White heat raced up to his brain and he was coming, hard, into Harvey's mouth. He felt the _thunk_ as his head dropped back against the wall, the orgasm whiting out any pain response he should have had.

Harvey was standing up and tucking Mike back into his pants as Mike tried to remember how to speak.

"Go wash your face," Harvey said. "It won't help, but maybe you'll shake off enough post-orgasmic bliss that Jessica won't notice how well-fucked you look." Harvey kissed him and Mike could taste himself in Harvey's mouth. Oh god, he was never going to make it through this day. "And as for your jealousy," Harvey continued, breaking the kiss, "if you think we're just hooking up here and that this isn't something more, then you aren't paying attention. You don't have anything to worry about from Jack or anyone else." He slapped Mike's ass, pushing him toward the bathroom. "Hurry," he called. Mike could hear the smile in his voice, "I don't want to have to tell Jack that you hurt me--he might kill you." Harvey was openly laughing at him now but Mike didn't care. Harvey had just had the relationship talk with him. There wasn't anything that could dim this day. Mike hurried to check himself in the bathroom mirror, certain that nothing he could do would remove the glow he felt.

~finis~

 

Handfasting quotes from Finn Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn (I didn't read it, just found it on the internet and loved it).

And if you like such things, here's the songs for this fic:

<http://youtu.be/vPDj7tlg4ZM> Scott Miller & the Commonwealth - On a Roll  
[http://youtu.be/b9YTlMs4NlI](http://youtu.be/vPDj7tlg4ZM) Jimmy Reed - Ain't That Lovin' You  
<http://youtu.be/RNE5k2rS3VQ> Jimmy Reed - You Don't Have To Go  
<http://youtu.be/moiUyFQQE-0> Charles Bradley – The World is Going Up In Flames  
<http://youtu.be/9VDffCWnlns> Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Just Losing You  
<http://youtu.be/ULqtganlDGE> Neko Case - Twist The Knife  
<http://youtu.be/asTjjwEAF8E> Last Train Home - Last Good Kiss  
<http://youtu.be/T9Uswpwds9k> Lucinda Williams - Rescue


End file.
